CHURCH COMMISSIONERS

Pipe Organs

Steve Webb: To ask the hon. Member for Middlesbrough, representing the Church Commissioners how many pipe organs there are in the Church of England.

Stuart Bell: The Church of England does not hold figures centrally for pipe organs in its cathedrals and churches. However, there are some 28,000 pipe organs registered in the UK (National Pipe Organ Register).
	Most are in institutional settings such as cathedrals, churches, schools, civic and concert halls. A significant proportion of these will be in Church of England churches.

SOLICITOR-GENERAL

Departmental Staff

Bob Spink: To ask the Solicitor-General how many staff in the Law Officers' Departments are paid on a performance-related basis.

Mike O'Brien: Pay and performance management for all Senior Civil Service (SCS) staff within my Departments is based on a framework set by the Cabinet Office. As at 31 December 2005 the numbers involved were:
	
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 Crown Prosecution Service 27 
			 HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate 3 
			 Revenue and Customs Prosecutions Office 8 
			 Treasury Solicitor's Office 35 
			 Serious Fraud Office 11 
			 Attorney-General's Office 7 
		
	
	The SCS scheme includes a mixture of consolidated base pay awards and non consolidated bonuses, both of which are linked to individual performance and delivery.
	Pay and performance management outside the Senior Civil Service is delegated to individual Departments and Agencies. All my Departments maintain systems which have a link between pay and performance; and some of the Departments run Special Bonus Schemes to provide a speedy recognition of exceptional performance by an individual or team. The numbers of staff below the SCS as at 31 December 2005 was as follows:
	
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 Crown Prosecution Service 8,111 
			 Revenue and Customs Prosecutions Office 230 
			 Serious Fraud Office 242 
			 HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate 43 
			 Treasury Solicitor's Office 623 
			 Attorney-General's Office 36

Michael McCartney

Ben Chapman: To ask the Solicitor-General what the cost to the Crown Prosecution Service was of the trial of Mike McCartney.

Mike O'Brien: The Crown Prosecution Service does not routinely ascertain the total cost of bringing prosecutions in individual cases. No assessment has been made of the cost of bringing this prosecution.

Michael McCartney

Ben Chapman: To ask the Solicitor-General what discussions he has had with the Director of Public Prosecutions on the trial of Michael McCartney.

Mike O'Brien: None.

Michael McCartney

Ben Chapman: To ask the Solicitor-General what assessment he has made of the cost to the Crown Prosecution Service of the trial of Michael McCartney.

Mike O'Brien: I have not made an assessment of the costs to the Crown Prosecution Service in bringing the prosecution against Michael McCartney. The Crown Prosecution Service does not routinely assess the costs of bringing individual cases and no assessment has been made of the cost of bringing the prosecution in this case.
	The decision to prosecute in this case was made following a review of the available evidence in accordance with the Code for Crown Prosecutors. The cost of bringing a case is not a factor that is taken into account in making decisions on whether to prosecute.

Michael McCartney

Ben Chapman: To ask the Solicitor-General if he will instruct the Chief Inspector of the Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate to investigate the conduct of the Crown Prosecution Service in the trial of Michael McCartney.

Mike O'Brien: I have received a report from the Crown Prosecution Service concerning this case. It discloses no reason to invite Her Majesty's Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate to investigate the conduct of this case by the Crown Prosecution Service.

Price Fixing

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Solicitor-General what the cost is of the Serious Fraud Office investigation into price fixing among drug companies supplying the NHS.

Mike O'Brien: The Serious Fraud Office has undertaken a major investigation into a suspected conspiracy to defraud the NHS in relation to prices charged by suppliers for prescribed drugs between 1 January 1996 and 31 December 2000. The case is complex, involving a number of individuals and companies, and has taken a significant amount of time to investigate.
	The total expenditure for this case:
	
		
			 Financial year Expenditure (£) 
		
		
			 2000 26,122 
			 2001 417,536 
			 2002 2,778,565 
			 2003 3,384,928 
			 2004 3,950,023 
			 2005 (year to date) 4,420,317 
			 Total 14,977,491

CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS

Electoral Fraud

Eric Pickles: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what steps (a) the Government and (b) local authorities take to prevent electoral fraud relating to votes by (i) post, (ii) proxy and (iii) polling stations in the names of deceased persons.

Bridget Prentice: A person will be guilty of the offence of personation if they vote in the name of a deceased person, either by post or in person at a polling station or as a proxy. Individual Returning Officers are responsible for ensuring that elections are conducted in accordance with the requirements of electoral law. The presiding officer at a polling station, acting under the direction of the Returning Officer, may ask a person applying for a ballot paper if they are the person registered in the electoral register for the election, or in the case of a person applying as a proxy, if they are the person whose name appears in the list of proxies for the election, if it is suspected that the voter is attempting to vote in the name of a deceased person. A ballot paper shall not be given to any person required to answer either of the above questions unless they have answered them satisfactorily.
	The Representation of the People (England and Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2006 contain a range of measures that improve the security of postal voting and will be in force at the May 2006 local elections. The following provisions will help to prevent attempts by persons to vote by post in the name of a deceased person.
	Electoral administrators are now required to confirm in writing the outcome of postal vote applications.
	Postal voters must give a reason for the re-direction of their postal vote.
	The closing date for postal vote applications has been moved from six to 11 days before polling day to give administrators more time to check applications.
	Electoral administrators may check signatures on postal vote applications against any other signatures they may hold.
	The Electoral Administration Bill currently before Parliament contains a number of measures that address electoral fraud, including attempts by persons to vote in the names of deceased persons. The measures include the following.
	There will be a new specific offence of applying for a postal or proxy vote as some other person, including a deceased person.
	After every election a list of all those who voted by post will be compiled which will enable fraudulent and stolen votes to be identified.
	Voters will have to sign for their ballot paper at the polling station to deter fraudsters and allow signatures to be checked if there is suspicion of fraud.

Party Political Funding

Peter Law: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what assessment she has made of the merits of the public funding of political parties.

Bridget Prentice: None. The Prime Minister has announced that Sir Hayden Phillips will conduct a review of the funding of political parties. The terms of reference are to conduct a review of the funding of political parties. In particular:
	To examine the case for state funding of political parties including whether it should be enhanced in return for a cap on the size of donations.
	To consider the transparency of political parties' funding.
	And; to report to the Government by the end of December 2006 with recommendations for any changes in the current arrangements.
	Sir Hayden Phillips will work closely with stakeholders including, especially, the political parties and the Electoral Commission. He has been asked to aim to produce recommendations which are as much as possible agreed between the political parties with a view to legislation as soon as parliamentary time allows.

Pension Liabilities

Philip Hammond: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs if she will estimate the net present value of accrued pension liabilities in respect of (a) present and (b) former employees of her Department and its predecessors.

Bridget Prentice: The Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme is an unfunded multi-employer defined benefit scheme and individual departments' pension liabilities are not available. The Cabinet Office: Civil Superannuation Resource Accounts for 2004–05 showed that the total pension liability at 31 March 2005 was £84.1 billion. The value of pension liabilities was assessed as follows.
	Liabilities for current members still contributing to the scheme—£37 billion.
	Deferred pensions and contingent pensions for dependants in respect of members no longer contributing—£12.7 billion.
	Current pensions for members and contingent pensions for dependants—£34.4 billion.
	As a result of a change in the discount rate used for calculating pension liabilities with effect from 1 April 2005, the total pension liability at 1 April 2005 increased by £10.6 billion to £94.7 billion.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Advisory Committee on Pesticides

Michael Meacher: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the compatibility of the Department's role as the sponsoring Department for the Advisory Committee on Pesticides (ACP) with the ACP's role in offering advice to other Government Departments.

Elliot Morley: While Defra and the Health and Safety Executive provide the secretariat to the Advisory Committee on Pesticides other Government Departments are closely involved in its operation. Appointments to the Committee are made by all Ministers responsible for pesticides in Great Britain and the Committee is also appointed separately to advise Northern Ireland Ministers. An assessor from each of the responsible departments attends ACP meetings. Advice from the ACP on particular pesticide authorisations has to be approved by all the relevant Departments before it is implemented. I see no conflict in the current arrangements.

Biofuels

Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what progress has been made in preparing for the introduction of the enhanced capital allowance for biofuels in early 2007.

Elliot Morley: Defra has been working closely with HM Treasury and HM Revenue and Customs in drawing up the state aid notification. As announced in the Budget report on 22 March, this has now been submitted to the European Commission. Consultants will be appointed to develop the administrative arrangements for the scheme and, in consultation with industry, to finalise the qualifying criteria and list of eligible equipment. Subject to state aid clearance, we envisage the scheme being in place in early 2007.

Capita Group

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what meetings (a) she and (b) Ministers in her Department have held with directors and senior executives of (i) Capita Group plc and (ii) its subsidiaries since 1 January 2004; and whether (A) Capita Group plc and (B) its subsidiaries have provided input (1) in writing and (2) in person to policy discussions in her Department since 1 January 2004.

Jim Knight: None.

Cattle Movement Service

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many cattle movements were tracked by the British Cattle Movement Service in the last five years for which figures are available.

Jim Knight: The figures in the following table show the number of movement notifications received by the British Cattle Movement Service for each year. The actual number of animals moving would be significantly less than the annual figures quoted because both ends of the movement are required to be notified.
	
		
			  Number of cattle movements notified 
		
		
			 2005 14,147,712 
			 2004 14,339,631 
			 2003 13,597,790 
			 2002 13,341,802 
			 2001 8,928,908

Chicken Imports

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what change there has been in the level of imports of chicken in the last three months.

Ben Bradshaw: The most recent trade statistics currently available are for January 2006, February data is expected to be available around 17 April. During the last three months available, the import level for chicken has remained steady at around 40,000 tonnes per calendar month.
	
		
			  2005 2006 
			  November December January 
			 Short description £000 Tonnes £000 Tonnes £000 Tonnes 
		
		
			 Poultry cuts and offal (frozen) 29,843 14,803 25,101 13,208 24,747 12,676 
			 Poultry meat and offal (other than liver) prepared or preserved 23,465 12,106 24,361 11,272 25,780 12,378 
			 Poultry cuts and offal (fresh or chilled) 18,681 9,504 16,954 9,517 18,344 8,870 
			 Poultry carcass meat (fresh or chilled) 2,841 3,008 3,615 3,860 3,511 4,158 
			 Poultry carcass meat (frozen) 1,033 898 1,288 1,153 1,090 952 
			 Poultry, live—weighing not more than 185 g 101 20 215 21 52 5 
			 Poultry, live—weighing more than 185 g 11 21 8 18 — — 
			 Poultry livers (frozen) — — 3 6 2 3 
			 Total 75,974 40,360 71,545 39,055 73,526 39,042 
		
	
	Note:
	Data prepared by Trade statistics, Food Chain Analysis 3, DEFRA. 2005 and 2006 data is subject to change.
	Source:
	H M Revenue and Customs

Coastal and Market Towns Initiative

Angela Browning: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the total budget is for the Coastal and Market Towns Initiative (a) to final report stage and (b) for the implementation stage beyond final report.

Jim Knight: holding answer 27 March 2006
	For towns currently engaged in the South West Coastal and Market Towns Initiative, the average award up to plan production has been approximately £45,000 per town.
	The addition of the implementation stage is a new development introduced by the Market and Coastal Towns Association during the last year. It provides additional support of between £5,000 and £10,000 per town. It is likely that towns coming into the initiative from the next financial year onwards will be awarded £25,000 to complete their plan, as well as consultancy support of approximately £10,000 to complete their implementation stage. This reduction in overall costs will be achieved through the better targeting of effort and resources as a result of the lessons learned from previous years.

Coastal and Market Towns Initiative

Angela Browning: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will list towns in Devon engaged in the Coastal and Market Towns Initiative; and which have completed the process and produced a final report.

Jim Knight: holding answer 27 March 2006
	There are 20 Devon towns currently engaged in the Market and Coastal Towns Initiative. They are as follows:
	Crediton
	Cullompton
	Dartmouth
	Dawlish
	Hatherleigh
	Holsworthy
	Honiton
	llfracombe
	Ivybridge
	Kingsbridge
	Lynton and Lynmouth
	Okehampton
	South Molton
	Tamar Valley
	Tavistock
	Teignmouth
	Tiverton
	Torrington
	Totnes
	Westward Ho!
	Seventeen towns have completed and published their community strategic plan (final report). Honiton has just completed a draft plan and anticipate publishing a final version in May 2006. Lynton and Lynmouth expect to publish their plan in June 2006, and Tiverton aim to publish theirs in September 2006.

Departmental Finance

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many cases of financial irregularities have been recorded in her Department in each of the last five financial years; and if she will make a statement.

Jim Knight: Annual returns of fraud submitted by Defra, to HM Treasury for the financial years 2001–02, 2002–03, 2003–04 and 2004–05, show the number of cases of fraud in the Department. These are summarised in the following table. Records of any other cases of financial irregularities are not maintained and could only reconstructed at disproportionate cost.
	
		
			 Type of fraud Number of cases reported 
			 Internal 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 
		
		
			 Travelling, subsistence and allowances 20 6 1 3 
			 Pay-related Frauds — — 1 — 
			 Procurement Fraud — 1 1 27 
			 Fraud Related to  Payment Processes — — — 1 
			 Income Related Fraud 1 — — 3 
			 Other — 3 — 4 
		
	
	The Department has only been in existence since June 2001. Information covering earlier periods is therefore not available, and could be reconstructed only at disproportionate cost.
	Information on Executive Agencies and NDPBs could be obtained only at
	disproportionate cost.

Departmental Policies

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will set out, with statistical information relating as directly as possible to Islington South and Finsbury constituency, the effects on Islington South and Finsbury of her Department's policies and actions since 2nd May 1997.

Jim Knight: The Department has put in place a considerable programme of reforms and improvements across a wide range of policy areas since 1997 to help improve the quality of life for local communities. These include broadening enforcement tools to tackle litter, dog fouling, noise and fly-posting. The issuing of Fixed Penalty Notices for Islington in each of these areas are as follows.
	
		
			  London borough of Islington—litter 
		
		
			 Number of fines issued by local authority 256 
			 Number of fines paid to local authority 179 
			 Number of cases taken to court 3 
		
	
	Islington also has the power to impose Fixed Penalty Notices for dog fouling, graffiti, fly posting and noise. No notices have been issued by Islington for these offences. Improved monitoring tools and resources have also been introduced to help local authorities to manage local environmental quality issues at a local level, respond to local needs and target resources more effectively and efficiently.
	The main source of funding for local authorities' waste management services is the Environmental, Protective and Cultural Services (EPCS) block of annual Government grant. It is for the local authorities to decide what proportion of the block is invested in waste management services, including recycling. Funding is also provided from a variety of other sources to support recycling, the amounts allocated are set out in the table.
	
		
			 Local authority Funding type Funding short description Funding amount Start date End date 
		
		
			 Islington Grant to relieve spending pressures on waste  67,220.00 1 April 2004 31 March 2005 
			 Islington Waste Performance Efficiency  Grant (WPEG) WPEG 193,470.00 1 April 2005 31 March 2006 
			 Islington Local Authority Support Unit  DCS (LASU) Land use planning 46,463.00 1 April 2004 31 March 2005 
			 Islington Waste and Resources Action  Programme (WRAP) Phase 1 and 2 18,918.00 38,599.00  and 1 April 2004 31 March 2005 
			 Islington LASU DCS Strategy 52,675.00 1 April 2005 31 March 2006 
			 Islington Household recycling incentives Estate scheme 45,000.00 1 April 2005 31 March 2006 
		
	
	My Department is responsible for the Warm Front Scheme, which is the key tool for tackling fuel poverty in the private sector in England. Since its launch in June 2000 it has assisted more than one million households with a range of insulation and heating measures and energy efficiency advice.
	The number of households that have been assisted by the Warm Front scheme in Islington South and Finsbury, each year since June 2000 areas follows.
	
		
			  Households 
		
		
			 June 2000 to March 2001 8 
			 April 2001 to March 2002 77 
			 April 2002 to March 2003 271 
			 April 2003 to March 2004 11 
			 April 2004 to March 2005 28 
			 April 2005 to end February 2006 30 
			 Total 425 
		
	
	In general, Defra collects information on a local authority basis rather than a constituency basis so not all information provided in this reply is specific to the Islington South and Finsbury constituency. The information provided reflects a significant proportion of Defra activity in this area, but may not be exhaustive.

Engagements

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many (a) public speeches and (b) official visits she has made on departmental business since 5 May 2005; and how many letters she sent in this period.

Jim Knight: Since 5 May 2005, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Margaret Beckett) has made six keynote speeches in the UK and conducted ten official domestic visits on Departmental business. She has replied to 1,508 letters as of 21 March 2006.
	My right hon. Friend has made a large number of more routine speeches and attended many international gatherings during the UK's presidency of the G8 and the EU, including chairing both the Agriculture and Environment Ministerial Councils.

EU Habitats Directive

Mark Lazarowicz: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how UK authorities exercise their responsibilities under the EU Habitats Directive with regard to (a) the assessment of plans or projects likely to have an effect on European wildlife sites and (b) the consideration of alternative solutions and of imperative reasons of over-riding public interest relating to plans or projects assessed as likely to have an adverse impact on the integrity of European wildlife sites in instances when a plan or project is of a type not specified by Regulations 54–85 of the Conservation (Natural Habitats etc.) Regulations 1994 (as amended).

Jim Knight: Regulation 3(4) of the Conservation (Natural Habitats, &c.) Regulations 1994 (as amended) provides a general duty for UK Competent Authorities to have regard to the requirements of the EC Habitats Directive so far as they may be affected through the exercise of their functions. This general duty includes the need for competent authorities, considering plans or projects not specified in Regulations 54–85, to address the requirements of Article 6(3) and 6(4) of the Habitats Directive.

EU Habitats Directive

Mark Lazarowicz: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how the UK authorities exercise their responsibilities under the EU Habitats Directive relating to (a) the assessment of a plan or project likely to have an effect on a European wildlife site, (b) the consideration of alternative solutions and of imperative reasons of over-riding public interest in the case of a plan or project assessed as likely to have an adverse impact on the integrity of a European wildlife site and (c) European protected species.

Jim Knight: Competent Authorities have a duty to make sure their responsibilities for assessing plans or projects likely to affect a European wildlife site are carried out in ways that agree with the provisions in Part IV of the Conservation (Natural Habitats, &c.) Regulations 1994 (as amended).
	Regulation 3(4) of the 1994 Regulations sets out a general duty for Competent Authorities to follow the requirements of the EC Habitats Directive if they may be affected when the Authorities exercise their functions. This duty also means that Competent Authorities, which are considering plans or projects not specified in Regulations 54–85, have to address the requirements of Article 6(3) and 6(4) of the Habitats Directive.
	The same general duty provided by Regulation 3(4) also applies to the requirements of the EC Habitats Directive about the protection and surveillance of European protected species and any operations that might adversely affect them, their eggs, breeding sites or places of shelter. This includes, in particular, the need to address the requirements of Articles 11–16 of the Habitats Directive.
	The same or similar duties apply throughout the devolved Administrations.

Farming

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will provide rural development funding to English farmers to develop farm health plans.

Jim Knight: We are currently consulting on the priorities for the new Rural Development Programme for England to run from 2007–13. In the consultation we do not propose to fund farmers for the development of farm health plans. However, £6 million of separate funding will be made available over the next two financial years to pump prime the farming industry to encourage active farm health planning.

Flood Prevention

John Gummer: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will list research funded by her Department which is (a) completed, (b) under way and (c) proposed on the development of flood management strategies and plans for the Suffolk coast and its tidal rivers; and what is the estimated cost of such research between 2003–04 and 2008–09.

Elliot Morley: The Environment Agency is the principal authority with responsibility for flood risk management in England. Most of the Agency's flood risk management activities are funded by Defra grant in aid. The Agency is promoting five studies which are currently underway, namely Thorpeness to Hollesley Coastal Strategy (£330,000 between 2003–04 and 2008–09), Stour and Orwell Estuary Strategy (£575,000), Deben Estuary Strategy (£550,000), Aide Ore Estuary Strategy (£625,000) and Blyth Estuary Strategy (£565,000).
	Suffolk coastal district council is developing its Felixstowe Strategy (£110,000), partly in partnership with the Agency for the southern part which covers flood risk as well as coastal erosion and is complete. (The cost given covers both the flood risk and coastal erosion components as Defra does not hold separate figures for these). A review of the Lowestoft to Harwich Shoreline Management Plan is underway, led by Suffolk coastal district council (£110,000). This will cover both flood risk and coastal erosion but the respective costs of these two components have not been separately estimated. Both these studies will be supported by Defra funding.

Fowl Cull

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what support her Department has provided to the north-east in preparation for a potential culling of fowl.

Ben Bradshaw: Defra has issued extensive guidance to bird keepers on bio-security measures to protect their birds from avian influenza.
	If it became necessary to cull birds, compensation would be paid for any healthy birds compulsorily slaughtered to control the disease. If needed, we would also establish a Welfare Disposal Scheme to fund the collection and disposal of poultry.

IBM Guildford

Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answers of 2 February 2006, Official Report, column 630W, on IBM Guildford, if she will place in the Library a copy of the official representations made to IBM.

Jim Knight: Every Defra or IBM staff member, who registers their car with Accommodation Section at Defra Guildford, is issued with the following notice.
	Car parking information and procedures at Guildford
	This note is intended to advise all vehicle drivers of the procedures and restrictions of parking at Defra Guildford.
	1. Car passes
	Yellow Passes: Cars can only be parked on site if a yellow car pass is displayed in the front window of the vehicle.
	Red Passes: All new starters to the site can apply for a red car pass from Chris Wood ext 3396 or when their photographic site pass is made.
	Accommodation Unit will regularly monitor the situation and as directed by the security guards, red car pass holders may be invited to park on site if space allows on any given day. As permanent vacancies occur red car passes will be exchanged for yellow ones in order of issue.
	2. Car park spaces for disabled pass holders
	Car park spaces especially designed for staff with a disability are available outside the main blocks and staff who hold special passes have priority over these at all times. However, these spaces may be used after 10am by everyone but will be expected to vacate the space if a special pass holder arrives to park later.
	3. Visitors car park
	Car parking for visitors in the visitor's car park must be reserved prior to their arrival by email to 'GUI.Accommodation@Defra.gsi.gov.uk' mailbox.
	The request must contain name & company of visitor; car registration if possible, expected time of arrival and duration of stay.
	Also a contact name and telephone number must be included to ensure a space can be reserved.
	Accommodation Unit will do their best to accommodate every request and a 'first come, first served' system is in operation with a maximum of up to 2 spaces for any one meeting being reserved in any one day, unless previously discussed and agreed.
	A minimum of 24 hours notice must be given (unless in exceptional circumstances) and bookings will be taken up to two months in advance only. Accommodation Unit will continue to be as flexible as possible to requests for the visitor's car park during low usage periods.
	4. Street parking
	Due to the shortage of car parking availability on site it is clear that some staff and externals are using local side streets for parking. Accommodation Unit continue to receive complaints from local residents about cars being parked in an illegal manner and blocking personal drive entrances.
	Defra has a responsibility as a good neighbour and we therefore ask everyone who parks locally to do so in a considerate and orderly manner. In line with the travel plan, we ask you not to park in Down Road, Pitt Farm Road, Daryngton Drive, Carroll Avenue, Gateways and Broadwater Rise. The council have established some controlled parking zones near by and wherever possible it would be helpful if you could park in these designated areas.
	Further details can be found at http://intranet/regional/guilford/driving/code_con.asp .
	A copy of the statement will be placed in the Library.

Merlin Biosciences Ltd.

David Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether she has met (a) Sir Christopher Evans and (b) representatives of Merlin Biosciences Ltd. in the past 12 months; and if she will make a statement.

Jim Knight: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has met neither Sir Christopher Evans nor representatives of Merlin Biosciences Ltd. in the past 12 months.

Milk Co-operatives

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment has been made of the impact of competition laws in the UK on the development of large scale milk co-operatives.

Jim Knight: The Department has not made any assessment of the impact of competition law on the development of large scale milk-co-operatives in the UK. We have, however, drawn the industry's concerns about the way that competition law is applied in the dairy sector to the attention of the Department of Trade and Industry and the Office of Fair Trading.

National Parks

Peter Atkinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she expects to implement the recommendations of the Wooller report into the funding of national parks.

Jim Knight: The Wooller report made recommendations for amending the model for allocating National Park and Broads Authority Grant. We have already taken forward its recommendation to introduce a baseline of £1 million per park into the funding model. We began implementing the revised funding model in 2004–05 and 2005–06. However budget pressures have prevented further movement in this direction. The position will now be reviewed in the Comprehensive Spending Review.
	The report also made recommendations on corporate planning. Officials are discussing with the National Park Authorities how these can best be implemented.

Single Farm Payment

Daniel Rogerson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many farmers have received their single farm payments to date.

Jim Knight: By the end of 17 March 10,116 Single Payment Scheme claims had been paid.

Single Farm Payment

Daniel Rogerson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment her Department has made of the effect of delays in single farm payments on non-farming businesses in rural communities.

Jim Knight: Non-farming businesses in rural communities may be affected by cash flow issues faced by some farming business. All sections of the rural community will, therefore, have welcomed the positive action the Department is taking to ensure payments under the Single Payment Scheme are made as soon as legally possible, as set out in my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State's written statement on 16 March 2006, Official Report, column 104WS.

Single Farm Payment

Daniel Rogerson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what percentage of farmers have (a) received their single farm payment entitlement statement and (b) had their statement validated.

Jim Knight: Almost all of the 120,000 farmers who submitted a claim to the 2005 Single Payment Scheme have received their entitlement statements. Around a third have validated statements.

Single Farm Payment

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what representations she has received on the administration of the single farm payments scheme in Lancashire.

Jim Knight: The Rural Payments Agency responds to all correspondence relating to the single payment scheme. As the scheme is not administered on a regional basis, it does not hold records on representations specific to Lancashire.

Single Farm Payment

Alistair Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will consider making interest payments in cases where single farm payments are delayed by failure to validate the mapping of farms.

Jim Knight: holding answer 14 March 2006
	The issue of compensation does not arise as the EU regulations governing the scheme provide for a payment window that runs until 30 June. It is now March. Farmers have been aware for more than 12 months that payments would not be made before February 2006.

Single Farm Payment

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many single farm payments were made in February; how many payments have been made in March; how many letters of confirmation of the amount of single farm payments have been sent to farmers; what percentage of the calculations of the amount of payment have been shown to be inaccurate; and when she expects all valid applicants to receive a correct letter advising the amount of their payment.

Jim Knight: A total of 2,400 single payment scheme payments were processed and released in February, the last of which were in bank accounts by 2 March. By the end of 17 March, 10,116 claims had been paid. All those farmers receiving payment have received a payment statement setting out details of its value, including any deductions. Queries on the value of payments are being dealt with as they arise. Payment statements are sent as claims are authorised.

Single Farm Payment

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the effect of delays in the single farm payment on the supply chain within the farming industry; and whether she has had discussions on compensation for creditors.

Jim Knight: To the extent that the agricultural supply industry has been affected by the cash-flow issues faced by some farming business, it should welcome the positive action the Department is taking to ensure payments under the Single Payment Scheme are made as soon as legally possible, as set out in my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State's written statement on 16 March 2006, Official Report, column 104WS. The issue of compensation does not arise as the EU regulations governing the scheme provide for a payment window that runs until 30 June. It is now March. Farmers have been aware for more than 12 months that payments would not be made before February 2006.

Single Farm Payment

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many and what percentage of single farm payments have been made; how many payments have not been made because of invalid returns; and how many payments have yet to be made.

Jim Knight: 120,367 applications were received for the single payment scheme. By the end of 17 March 2006, 10,116 (8.43 per cent.) claims had been paid.
	The claims still to be made will include a number of invalid returns. The Rural Payments Agency is unable at this stage to quantify the number.

Single Farm Payment

Philip Dunne: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what proportion of claims made for the inaugural single farm payment have had letters of entitlements from her Department declared invalidated.

Jim Knight: Approximately two thirds of entitlement statements were issued to Single Payment Scheme applicants whose claims had not completed full validation.

Single Farm Payment

Angela Browning: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions her Department has had with contractors providing digital maps for single farm payments in the past six months.

Jim Knight: holding answer 17 March 2006
	The Rural Payments Agency are in daily contact with the contractors undertaking the digitisation. The contractor also provides a weekly progress report.

Single Farm Payment

Angela Browning: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many single farm payment cases are delayed due to digital mapping errors; and if she will make a statement.

Jim Knight: holding answer 17 March 2006
	Single payment scheme claims are validated against a number of factors and a claim may have many reasons for being invalidated. Those claims invalidated due to mapping errors are not separately identified.

Single Farm Payment

Angela Browning: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many applications for single farm payments have been received to date (a) in total and (b) from the county of Devon; and what percentage of these have been paid.

Jim Knight: holding answer 17 March 2006
	120,367 applications were received for the single payment Scheme. By the end of 17 March 2006, 10,116 (8.43 per cent.) claims had been paid.
	The Rural Payments Agency does not have data available on a regional basis, as the scheme is not administered in this way.

Single Farm Payment

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many single farm payments were made to farmers in (a) England and (b) Somerset in the week ending (i) 24 February, (ii) 3 March, (iii) 10 March and (iv) 17 March.

Jim Knight: The number of Single Payment Scheme claims paid are as follows:
	(a)(i) Week ending 24 February—213 claims had been paid
	(ii) Week ending 3 March—2,882 claims had been paid cumulatively
	(iii) Week ending 10 March—4,484 claims had been paid cumulatively
	(iv) Week ending 17 March—10,116 claims had been paid cumulatively
	(b) The Rural Payments Agency does not have data available on a regional basis, as the scheme is not administered in this way.

Single Farm Payment

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions she has had with Ministers in the Welsh Assembly Government and the Scottish Parliament on the average single farm payment to be received by farmers with farms of comparable sizes.

Jim Knight: The Defra ministerial team meets regularly with Ministers from the Devolved Administrations, when the Single Payment Scheme (SPS) is a regular topic of discussion. The model of the SPS adopted in England is different to that in Wales and Scotland, so direct comparisons with regard to the size of payments would not be very meaningful.

Single Farm Payment

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many single payment scheme applications have been received from Bath constituency; and how many of those applications have received validated payments.

Jim Knight: 120,367 applications were received for the Single Payment Scheme. By the end of 17 March 2006, 10,116 (8.43 per cent.) claims had been paid.
	The Rural Payments Agency does not have data available on a regional basis, as the scheme is not administered in this way.

State Aid

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will list the Spanish agricultural organisations of national importance as referred to in state aid approval notice N 400/2005 whose state funding has been authorised by the Commission; whether UK agricultural organisations of national importance have (a) requested and (b) been granted equivalent state funding authorised by the European Commission; and if she will make a statement.

Jim Knight: Aid scheme N 400/2005 provides for (a) start-up aid for new producer groups and (b) aid-related to the extension of the activities of existing producer groups. In both cases the remit of the producer group must extend to more than one autonomous region of Spain. We do not have information on the Spanish groups that have received aid, the award of which is a matter for the Spanish Government.
	The aid scheme covered by state aid approval notice N 400/2005 is a national scheme which applies only in Spain. The UK has not sought state aid approval for a grant scheme offering a similar type of aid and we have no plans to do so. We have, however, obtained approval under aid scheme N 424/2003, to provide grant to English Farming and Food Partnerships which was set up to encourage and support collaboration and co-operation between farmers in England, and between farmers and the rest of the food chain. Grants are also available under the Agriculture Development Scheme (aid N 505/2002 extended as N 508/2005) for projects in England which involve collaboration and co-operation benefiting primary producers.

State of the Countryside

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many households in England were in the sparsely populated area analysed by the Countryside Commission in its recent report, the State of the Countryside; how many of those households were second home owners; and how many of those households that were not second home owners had access to a vehicle.

Jim Knight: The Commission for Rural Communities (which is an operating division of the Countryside Agency) used census 2001 data on housing stock and car ownership in its annual State of the Countryside report in 2005.
	Analysis of data on housing stock reveals that, in 2001, there were 344,321 'household spaces' in sparse areas of England, of which 24,475, or 7.1 per cent., were categorised as unoccupied second residence or holiday accommodation.
	It is not possible to assess, from the analysis that has been completed to date, how many households resident in sparsely populated areas owned second homes.
	Analysis of the number of non-second homeowners in sparse areas with access to a vehicle was not included in the 2005 State of the Countryside. However, basic car ownership figures reveal that, at the time of the census in 2001, 252,908 households (82.4 per cent.) in sparse areas of England had access to at least one car.

Thames Basin Heaths

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  what consultation with local planning authorities in the affected areas took place prior to the implementation of the Thames Basin Heaths Special Protection Areas;
	(2)  if she will list the occasions on which the implementation of the Thames Basin Heaths Special Protection Area (SPA) was referred to (a) in Parliament and (b) in public by Ministers in her Department prior to designation of the SPA.

Jim Knight: In March 2000, Thames Basin Heaths was notified to Parliament as potentially qualifying as a Special Protection Area.
	It was classified as a Special Protection Area on 9 March 2005 following consultations undertaken by English Nature and my Department. All relevant local authorities were directly consulted by English Nature.
	We do not hold records of when the implementation of the Thames Basin Heaths Special Protection Area was referred to in Parliament, or on all public references by Ministers.

Thames Basin Heaths

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions her Department has had with the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister about the implications of the implementation of the Thames Basin Heaths Special Protection Areas for the ability of the surrounding local authority areas to accommodate intended housing allocations.

Jim Knight: My officials have had a number of meetings with officials in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, English Nature and the South East England regional assembly about the Thames Basin Heaths Special Protection Area (SPA). Discussions have focused on how the intended housing allocations can be accommodated in a way that avoids damaging the conservation of the SPA, and on ensuring that our obligations under the habitats directive are met. These discussions have considered proposals for a delivery plan, which could provide a strategic framework for mitigating the impacts of new development on the SPA.
	Officials will maintain a regular dialogue with partners involved in the draft delivery plan as it evolves.

Water

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the average level of water (a) leakage and (b) use per household in litres was in each water company area in each year since 1996–97.

Elliot Morley: Figures for water leakage and household water consumption are published annually by the Director General of Water Services in the 'Security of supply, leakage and the efficient use of water' reports. Total water company leakage for 1996–97 to 2004–05, in Megalitres per day, was reported as follows:
	
		
			  1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 
		
		
			 Anglian 242 240 206 190 194 224 192 216 214 
			 Bournemouth and W. Hants 29 26 26 23 23 22 22 22 22 
			 Bristol 65 59 56 54 55 55 53 53 53 
			 Cambridge 16 14 13 13 13 14 14 14 14 
			 Dee Valley 13 12 12 13 12 11 11 10 11 
			 Dwr Cymru 357 329 306 288 260 224 192 216 214 
			 Folkestone and Dover 12 9 9 8 9 8 8 8 8 
			 Mid Kent 38 36 30 29 29 29 28 30 29 
			 Northumbrian North 192 184 171 168 164 161 153 160 155 
			 Northumbrian South 85 82 76 73 72 73 67 70 67 
			 Portsmouth 31 32 31 30 30 30 30 30 30 
			 Severn Trent(1) 479 399 344 340 340 340 514 512 502 
			 South East 99 108 98 97 85 75 72 69 69 
			 South Staffordshire 90 82 77 76 72 71 71 71 74 
			 South West 129 101 92 84 84 83 84 84 83 
			 Southern 113 99 95 93 92 92 92 92 92 
			 Sutton and East Surrey 27 26 25 24 24 24 24 24 24 
			 Tendring Hundred 6 6 6 5 6 5 5 5 5 
			 Thames 108 906 770 662 688 865 943 946 915 
			 Three Valleys 199 172 157 145 140 157 152 152 149 
			 United Utilities 666 579 510 487 463 452 465 479 500 
			 Wessex 129 110 100 88 84 79 75 75 73 
			 Yorkshire 430 377 342 317 304 297 296 295 293 
		
	
	(1) In spring 2003 Severn Trent Water revised its water balance data. The company attributed most of the increase in leakage to methodological changes
	Water company estimates of average daily household consumption in litres per head per day for 1996–97 to 2004–05 was reported as follows:
	
		
			  1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 
		
		
			 Anglian 150 150 145 145 138 137 143 146 143 
			 Bournemouth and W. Hants 164 159 157 168 161 161 160 169 167 
			 Bristol 156 150 146 149 147 151 151 158 153 
			 Cambridge 148 144 138 134 139 141 142 151 148 
			 Dee Valley 151 145 143 144 143 143 147 151 145 
			 Dwr Cymru 146 146 143 143 146 150 150 149 151 
			 Folkestone and Dover 157 157 159 159 157 163 158 167 159 
			 Mid Kent 166 164 165 168 162 160 162 173 167 
			 Northumbrian North 143 143 146 148 147 147 145 150 146 
			 Northumbrian South 160 159 161 156 157 161 155 164 158 
			 Portsmouth 162 153 153 163 157 159 157 162 159 
			 Severn Trent 136 136 137 139 139 139 130 136 132 
			 South East 166 162 159 160 160 163 166 178 173 
			 South Staffordshire 146 146 141 141 143 145 146 151 146 
			 South West 152 151 152 153 150 151 153 160 161 
			 Southern 156 158 155 157 155 161 159 162 157 
			 Sutton and East Surrey 170 165 161 163 162 172 172 185 173 
			 Tendring Hundred 146 139 122 126 124 127 128 129 125 
			 Thames 159 161 155 165 165 159 162 162 159 
			 Three Valleys 169 167 165 168 174 178 174 185 178 
			 United Utilities 136 141 137 138 140 142 146 148 142 
			 Wessex 143 139 135 137 140 143 142 151 146 
			 Yorkshire 131 135 133 138 139 147 144 147 145

SCOTLAND

Energy Efficiency

Nadine Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what steps he is taking to increase energy efficiency within his Department; and if he will make a statement.

David Cairns: The Scotland Office subscribes to the energy efficiency policies adopted by the Department for Constitutional Affairs. I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by my hon. Friend, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs (Bridget Prentice), on 21 March 2006, Official Report, column 301W.

Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill

Angus MacNeil: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what discussions he has had with the (a) Scottish Executive and (b) the Cabinet Office on the Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill.

David Cairns: My right hon. Friend has regular discussions with the Scottish Executive and other Government Departments, including the Cabinet Office, on a wide range of matters.

Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill

Angus MacNeil: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he has made an assessment of the likely impact of the Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill on Scotland.

David Cairns: Certain provisions of the Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill trigger the Sewel Convention. The Scottish Parliament's consent is therefore required for those provisions in Part 3 of the Bill which will widen the powers available to the Scottish Ministers to implement EC obligations and give greater flexibility in the use of section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 1972.

Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what his Department's employer contribution rates to the principal civil service pension scheme are; what assumed rate of return underlies those contribution rates; and what the contribution rate would be if the assumed rate of return was in line with current redemption yield on index-linked gilts.

David Cairns: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by my right hon. Friend, the Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office (Mr. Murphy), on 29 March 2006.

Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what total amount of employers' normal contributions accruing superannuation liability charge has been accounted for by his Office in each of the last five years for which data are available.

David Cairns: The amount of employers' accruing superannuation liability charges in respect of members of the Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme in the last five years is as follows:
	
		
			  £000 
		
		
			 2004–05(2) 397 
			 2003–04(2) 455 
			 2002–03(2) 435 
			 2001–02 397 
			 2000–01 345 
		
	
	(2) From 1 October 2002 new entrants have been able to opt for a partnership pension account, a stakeholder arrangement with an employer contribution. Employers' contributions to partnership pension accounts are not included in the figures.

TREASURY

Carbon Capture

Bob Blizzard: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what financial support he plans to give to the development of carbon capture and storage technology.

John Healey: The Government are actively working to build an evidence base on the economics of carbon capture and storage (CCS). At Budget 2006, HM Treasury launched a consultation exercise on barriers to wide-scale commercial deployment of the technology and the potential role of economic incentives in addressing those barriers. The results of this exercise will be fed into the Energy Review.
	Consideration of whether there is a need for economic incentives for CCS in the UK is taking place in addition to support which has been made available for demonstrations of CCS through the Department for Trade and Industry's Carbon Abatement Technologies Strategy. The Strategy is providing capital grant funding of 35m for demonstration projects of carbon abatement technologies over four years starting in 2006–07.
	In reflection of the global challenge which carbon emissions present, during the UK's presidency of the EU and G8, the Government initiated a project aiming to build a demonstration zero emissions coal plant with CCS, as the centrepiece of the EU-China Partnership on Climate Change. It is providing £3.5 million to fund the initial phase of this project.

Science Funding

Helen Goodman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the impact on the economy of Government funding for science; and if he will make a statement.

John Healey: The social rates of return to R&D vary. For the UK they are estimated at over 80 per cent. for manufacturing and 30 per cent. for public R&D in pharmaceuticals. Just under 200 new university spin-off firms were set up in 2002–03 compared to 70 a year on average from 1994–99. Over the past two years, 20 university spin out companies have floated on the stock market with a combined market value of over £1 billion.

Council Tax (Pensioners)

Paul Rowen: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what criteria he used in making the decision not to include a rebate on council tax for pensioners in the Budget.

Dawn Primarolo: Any decision on the future of additional payments to pensioners must be taken within the context of Sir Michael Lyons' ongoing review into local government funding due by the end of 2006 and the Government White Paper on Pensions due later this spring.

British Energy

Michael Weir: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent discussions he has had with operators in the energy market on the proposed disposal of the Government's stake in British Energy.

John Healey: Treasury Ministers and officials discuss a wide range of issues with organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and analysis. As was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Government's practice to provide details of all such discussions.

Business Investment

David Davies: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps he is taking to promote investment in business in the UK.

John Healey: In the Budget we announced a comprehensive package of measures to promote the UK as the leading location for inward investment. This included a new five year strategy for a step-change in the Government's drive to market UK economy internationally and a new strategy to promote London internationally as the world's leading financial centre. The Government will also implement a £9 million international R&D strategy, in partnership with the academic and business communities. These strategies will be supported by a reformed UK Trade and Investment.

Child Benefit

Lynne Jones: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the cost was at current prices of child benefit in each year since 1996–97; and what percentage of the costs was accounted for by administration in each year.

Dawn Primarolo: The following table shows the total expenditure on child benefit for the years 1996–97 to 2004–05.
	
		Total UK expenditure on child benefit: 1996–97 to 2004–05
		
			  Expenditure (£ million) Administration cost (pence per £ paid) 
		
		
			 1996–97 7,179 — 
			 1997–98 7,340 — 
			 1998–99 7,556 — 
			 1999–2000 8,571 — 
			 2000–01 8,960 — 
			 2001–02 9,100 — 
			 2002–03 9,255 — 
			 2003–04 9,425 0.64 
			 2004–05 9,592 1.05 
		
	
	Before 2003–04 the Department for Work and Pensions was responsible for child benefit in Great Britain. Comparable figures of administration costs for these years are not available.

Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he will reply to the letter dated 13 February from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton, with regard to Mr. M. K. Ghafood.

Dawn Primarolo: I have done so.

Economic Growth

Peter Bone: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the effect of tax levels on economic growth.

John Healey: The Government's macro-economic framework has consistently delivered stability with strong growth and low inflation, thus establishing a track record that has been internationally acknowledged. GDP has now grown for 54 consecutive quarters and inflation remains at historically low rates. The Government's approach to taxation balances the need to finance better quality public services, deliver fairness and promote sustainable development while ensuring that the UK benefits from the advantages of being a lightly taxed economy.

Employer-supported Child Care

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the tax and national insurance incentives for employer-supported child care since April 2005; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: The tax and national insurance contributions exemption for employer-supported child care is designed to engage employers on the issue of child care and help parents pay for child care. Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs are currently assessing and monitoring the effectiveness of the tax and national insurance contributions exemptions for employer-supported child care. However, informal qualitative evidence suggests that the scheme is working well and that the numbers benefiting may be higher than estimated.

Energy Companies (Windfall Tax)

Stewart Hosie: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the merits of a windfall tax on energy companies.

Dawn Primarolo: The Government keep all taxes under review and any changes to taxation are considered as part of the normal budget process.
	In PBR 2005 the Chancellor announced a package of measures to ensure that the North sea tax regime strikes the correct balance between oil and gas producers and consumers, by promoting investment and ensuring fairness for taxpayers. As part of this announcement the Chancellor committed to no further increases in North sea taxation for the lifetime of this parliament.

Financial Exclusion

Stephen Hesford: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people in Wirral, West did not have access to a bank account on 31 December (a) 2005 and (b) 1997.

John Healey: The most recent data available that allows assessment to be made of the number of households with no access to a bank account is the Family Resources Survey from 2002–03. This indicates that 8 per cent. of households in the United Kingdom had no bank account of any kind. This equated to 1.9 million households containing around 2.8 million adults. This data is broken down to Government Office regional level. This shows 9 per cent. of households in the North West and Merseyside were unbanked.
	In 1997–98, the Family Resources Survey was collected on a Great Britain basis, excluding Northern Ireland. 11 per cent. of households in the North West and Merseyside were unbanked at that time compared to 8 per cent. of households in Great Britain as a whole.
	In December 2004, the Government and the banks agreed to work together towards the goal of halving the number of adults in households with no access to a bank account of any kind and of making significant progress within two years. The financial inclusion taskforce has been asked to monitor progress. The taskforce recently made its first annual report, which concluded that steady progress has been made towards the goal but also encouraged banks to continue to address the difficulties faced in opening a bank account.

HM Revenue and Customs

Maria Miller: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to his Written Answer of 23 March 2006, Official Report, column 505W, on HM Revenue and Customs, what the reasons were for HM Revenue and Customs' decision to close its Basingstoke office; and what the findings were of assessments of the likely impact of the closure on (a) residents, (b) local businesses and (c) others in Basingstoke, with particular reference to equality impact assessments.

Dawn Primarolo: HMRC's targets for improving efficiency and reducing costs include reducing staff numbers by 12,500 net by 1 April 2008, and making substantial savings on the cost of its estate. So it is looking critically at how many of its 600 plus staffed buildings it needs to keep, and in what locations.
	The decision to close the HMRC office at London House, Basingstoke, was taken in that context. A break in the lease gave the opportunity to give up the accommodation. An assessment of the likely impact of closure found that there would be no significant impact on local businesses, residents or taxpayers. A face to face service for customers will continue to be provided at a nearby building.
	The impact assessment identified the equality issues that will need to be addressed in completing the relocation, and HMRC managers will be talking to staff about how to deal with any individual problems the closure may pose for them.

Lymphoma

Graham Stuart: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people have been diagnosed with lymphoma in (a) Beverley and Holderness and (b) England in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from Jill Matheson, dated 30 March 2006
	The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking how many people have been diagnosed with lymphoma in (a) Beverley and Holderness and (b) England in each of the last five years. I am replying in her absence. (62363)
	The most recent available figures for newly diagnosed cases (incidence) of cancer are for 2003. Figures requested are given in the table below.
	
		Cases of lymphoma diagnoses(3) 1999–2003 in Beverley and Holderness(4), and in England
		
			  Beverley and Holderness England 
		
		
			 1999 16 9.319 
			 2000 25 9,297 
			 2001 24 9.448 
			 2002 27 9.319 
			 2003 27 9,432 
		
	
	(3) Lymphoma sites are based on codes in the international Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD10). Hodgkin's disease is defined by code C81, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma is defined by codes C82–85, C91.4, and 096.
	(4) Parliamentary constituency.
	Source:
	Office for National Statistics

National Insurance

Robert Wilson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what penalty fee was levied for late registration for national insurance contributions in each year since 2001.

Dawn Primarolo: A late notification penalty of £100 for the late registration for Class 2 self-employed national insurance contributions was introduced on the 31 January 2001. The penalty has remained at the same level since that date.

National Insurance

Frank Field: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many temporary national insurance numbers have been issued by HM Revenue and Customs in each year since 1997; and what proportion of these have been for tax credit purposes.

Dawn Primarolo: Temporary national insurance numbers can be issued by HMRC once the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) have confirmed that a claimant has attended and passed an evidence of identity interview at their local DWP office.
	Recent analysis of tax credit claimant data shows that HM Revenue and Customs issued around 16,000 temporary references using a Nino format for tax credit purposes between April 2003 and March 2004, around 6,000 between April 2004 and March 2005 and around 13,000 April 2005 to date.

National Insurance

Andrew Turner: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many bills were issued in the last year for which information is available for national insurance contributions which had remained unpaid for more than six years; and what was the total value of such bills.

Dawn Primarolo: Full information relating to Class 2 national insurance bills could be obtained only at a disproportionate cost.

Public Sector Bodies' Debt

James Brokenshire: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent assessment he has made of the level of transparency of the classification of public sector bodies' debt.

Des Browne: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave on the Floor of the House earlier today to the hon. Member for Lichfield (Michael Fabricant).

Tax Bulletin 79

Eric Pickles: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer on what date HM Revenue and Customs published Tax Bulletin 79; and what changes the bulletin made to eligibility for tax relief under section 336 of the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003.

Dawn Primarolo: Tax Bulletin 79 was published on 24 October 2005. It made no changes to an employee's entitlement for tax relief under section 336.
	However, it contained an article announcing a relaxation of HMRC's view of the circumstances in which employees can claim tax relief for un-reimbursed home working expenses. It means more employees will be able to claim tax relief for the additional expenses they incur where they have to work from home.

Tax Bulletin 79

Eric Pickles: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer on what date HM Revenue and Customs published the guidance in the Employment Income Manual section EIM32760 which was superseded by Tax Bulletin 79.

Dawn Primarolo: The guidance in the Employment Income Manual section EIM32760 reflects longstanding guidance published in earlier Inland Revenue guidance manuals. It was published in its current format on 29 May 2003 following the introduction of the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003.

Tax Credits

Paul Goodman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the median (a) working tax credit and (b) working families tax credit payment received by (i) lone parent households and (ii) non-lone parent households was in each year for which figures are available.

Dawn Primarolo: Lone parent and couple families receive the same award where their family income and other circumstances (such as the number of children) are the same. There are a number of factors affecting average awards, including:
	couple families tend to have more children, increasing their child tax credit (CTC) award. (The December 2005 tax credit statistics showed that in-work couple families had on average 1.8 children per family compared to 1.5 for in-work lone parents.);
	lone parents tend to have lower incomes than couple families, increasing their award. (The statistics show that 27 per cent. of in-work lone parent families have gross incomes below £5,220 compared to 4 per cent. of in-work couple families.); and
	lone parents are more likely to benefit from the childcare element of the working tax credit (WTC) designed to help more people move into work. (The statistics show around two-thirds of recipients of the child care element are lone parents, with the remaining third being couple families.)
	The median weekly entitlements to WTC and CTC are £109.96 for lone parent families and £96.50 for couples with children, based on finalised 2003–04 awards. The median weekly entitlements for working families tax credit are £88.95 for lone parent families and £75.59 for couples with children, based on figures for November 2002. Such data for later years are not available.

Tax Credits

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many and what proportion of tax credit claimants received manual payments due to computer system failure in (a) 2003–04, (b) 2004–05 and (c) 2005–06 to date.

Dawn Primarolo: The information is not available in the format requested.
	For the reasons for issuing manual payments I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Birmingham, Yardley (John Hemming) on 10 October 2005, Official Report, column 325W.
	HM Revenue and Customs are working hard to improve administration, address technical issues and minimise impact on taxpayers.

Tax Credits

Norman Baker: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many tax credit claimants in Lewes constituency are receiving regular manual payments each month due to computer error; and what steps are being taken to ensure that all claimants receive regular automatic payments.

Nigel Evans: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many tax credit claimants in Ribble Valley constituency are receiving regular manual payments each month due to computer error; and what steps are being taken to ensure that all claimants receive regular automatic payments.

Dawn Primarolo: I refer the hon. Gentlemen to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Fareham (Mr. Hoban) on 13 March 2006, Official Report, columns 1983–84W.
	Not all manual payments are required because of computer error. Manual payments of tax credits are made to a very small percentage of claimants; however numbers are not available at constituency level.

Tax Credits

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what his latest estimate is of the costs of organised fraud of the tax credits system in each quarter from Q1 2003 to Q1 2006; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  when he was first informed of organised tax credit fraud; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: I refer to the answer I gave to the hon. Gentleman on 10 January 2006, Official Report, column 551W.

Tax Credits

Frank Field: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he will answer question 48439, tabled by the right hon. Member for Birkenhead on 31 January 2006, on child tax credit.

Dawn Primarolo: I very much regret not being in a position to answer my right hon. Friend's earlier question. I will do so very shortly and will also write to my right hon. Friend.

Tax Credits

Andrew Turner: To ask the Exchequer how many penalty payments have been agreed between HM Revenue and Customs and recipients of tax credits following overpayments (a) in total and (b) in each compliance office in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight in the last year for which information is available; and how many involved payments of (i) less than £250, (ii) £250-£499, (iii) £500-£999, (iv) £1,000 and over in respect of overpayments of (A) less than £2,500, (B) £2,500-£4,999, (C) £5,000-£9,999 and (D) £10,000 or more.

Dawn Primarolo: HMRC does not impose penalties for overpayments. It can and does impose monetary penalties where people deliberately or negligently make incorrect statements.

Tax Credits

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to re-open the tax credits e-portal; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: I refer the hon. Member to my answer to the hon. Member for Bury St. Edmunds (Mr. Ruffley) on 31 January 2006, Official Report, column 441W.

Tonnage Tax Scheme

Gwyn Prosser: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the value was of financial concessions to the UK shipping industry through the tonnage tax scheme in 2004–05.

John Healey: An initial estimate of the corporation tax foregone in 2004–05 can be found at:
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/tax_expenditures/b1_dec05.xls

Trade Targets (China/India)

Keith Vaz: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent targets he has set for trade with (a) China and (b) India.

John Healey: As the balance of global economic activity shifts, the UK needs to strengthen its links with China and India to capitalise on the new opportunities that increasing investment flows and trade can offer. The Budget set out a comprehensive package of measures to address this.

Tyler-CLT User Conference

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether representatives from (a) the Valuation Office Agency, (b) HM Treasury and (c) the Valuation Tribunal Service will attend the 2006 Tyler-CLT User conference in Utah, USA in April 2006.

Dawn Primarolo: No representatives from (a) the Valuation Office Agency (b) HM Treasury nor (c) the Valuation Tribunal Service will be attending the Tyler-CLT conference in Utah, USA in April 2006.

Valuation Office Agency

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much the Valuation Office Agency has spent on foreign travel, including subsistence, for staff in each year since 1997–98.

Dawn Primarolo: Regarding the cost of foreign visits, I refer the right hon. Member to the answers given to the hon. Member for Meriden (Mrs. Spelman) on 19 January 2006, Official Report, column 1502W, and 28 February 2006, Official Report, column 685W.
	For clarification it should be noted that the costs quoted for foreign travel are exclusive of subsistence. Subsistence for foreign trips is included within the figures quoted for the Agency as a whole. Separate figures for subsistence claimed for foreign trips are not readily obtainable and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

VAT Relief

Lynne Jones: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether it is permitted under EU VAT rules to extend the zero rates applied to the services of providing, extending or adapting a bathroom or washroom and those areas covered in section 6 of VAT reliefs for disabled people (HMRC Reference: Notice 701/7, August 2002) to other areas in the private residences or residential accommodation of disabled people.

Dawn Primarolo: Under agreements with our European partners we can keep our existing zero rates of VAT but we are not able to extend them or introduce any new ones.

Women Entrepreneurs

Barbara Follett: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what discussions he has had with the Department for Trade and Industry on developing micro-finance programmes tailored to the needs of women entrepreneurs.

John Healey: HM Treasury Ministers and officials have regular meetings with counterparts in the Department of Trade and Industry and other departments, and with other organisations in both the public and private sectors, to discuss a wide range of issues as part of the normal processes of enterprise policy analysis and development.

Youth Volunteering

Robert Flello: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the funding he has allocated for youth volunteering.

Ivan Lewis: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer the Chancellor of the Exchequer gave on the Floor of the House earlier today to the hon. Member for North Durham (Mr. Jones).

TRANSPORT

Cargo Transfers

Mark Lazarowicz: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the status is of the draft regulations covering ship-to-ship transfer of oil and other chemicals in UK territorial seas; and when he expects to introduce the final regulations.

Stephen Ladyman: The secondary legislation which will regulate ship-to-ship transfers within the limits of the UK's territorial sea is in draft. The Department expects to consult on it in the summer, with a view to its coming into force later in the year.

Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency

Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much has been spent by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency in each of the last five years on (a) television, (b) poster, (c) radio, (d) newsprint and (e) other advertising.

Stephen Ladyman: Specific publicity costs are available only for the categories noted in the following table:
	
		£000
		
			  TV Radio Press Other(5) 
		
		
			 2001–02 1,603 726 1,773 1,926 
			 2002–03 2,192 1,734 2,837 1,303 
			 2003–04 4,674 997 2,295 2,211 
			 2004–05 3,287 1,590 3,158 1,335 
			 2005–06 (current forecast)(6) 4,724 1 ,494 919 1,130 
		
	
	(5) The other category includes online advertising and outdoor advertising i.e. buses, bill boards etc.
	(6) The current forecast for 2005 includes 11 months actuals and one month's forecast.

Flight Paths

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many flight paths to major UK airports which serve international carriers take aeroplanes over built-up areas.

Derek Twigg: holding answer 21 March 2006
	The Civil Aviation Authority only approves flight profiles that are safe and avoid over-flight of densely populated areas as far as is possible. However, flight profiles must be compatible with international route design requirements and this inevitably results in some over-flight of built-up areas by flights servicing major UK airports.

Greater Manchester PTE

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what discussions he has had with Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive on congestion charging in Greater Manchester.

Stephen Ladyman: I refer my hon. Friend to my answer of 17 March 2006, Official Report, columns 2510W-11W given to the hon. Member for Manchester, Withington (Mr. Leech).

Level Crossings

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  how many incidents have been reported at level crossings in each of the last eight years in each police force area;
	(2)  how many (a) pedestrians, (b) road vehicle users, (c) train passengers and (d) other members of the public have been (i) injured and (ii) killed at level crossings in each police force area in each of the last eight years;
	(3)  how many level crossings there are in each police force area in England and Wales.

Derek Twigg: Details on the number of different types of level crossing and number of different types of incidents are given in the Health and Safety Executive's annual reports on rail safety, copies of which are in the House Library. Information on the number of different types of crossing is broken down into Network Rail's regional territories but information on incidents is given only for Great Britain. Neither HSE nor the rail industry record data by police force area.

Local Transport Plans

Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent changes have been made to the formula for local transport plans; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Ladyman: Following consultation, the Department is introducing a formula for the distribution of the Integrated Transport block progressively over five years from 2006–07. Details are published on the Department's website at http://www.dft.gov.uk/stellent/qroups/dft_localtrans/documents/page/dft_localtrans 610731.pdf

M6

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many (a) vehicles and (b) heavy goods vehicles travel between junctions 11A and 20 on the M6 on average each day in the last period for which figures are available.

Stephen Ladyman: The following table provides the average number of vehicles and heavy goods vehicles using the M6 on each weekday in 2005 for each junction to junction link between junction 11 A, north of Birmingham and junction 20, south of Warrington.
	
		2005 Average 24 hour traffic flow
		
			 Location Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday 
			  Flow HGVs Flow HGVs Flow HGVs Flow HGVs 
		
		
			 J11AtoJ12 114,300 32,000 117,300 35,800 120,800 36,200 124,600 36,100 
			 J12toJ13 117,600 32,400 121,000 36,400 124,400 35,500 128,000 36,500 
			 J13toJ14 118,700 30,800 121,700 34,700 124,600 34,300 128,300 34,100 
			 J14toJ15 112,000 28,500 114,600 32,100 117,100 32,200 120,900 32,000 
			 J15toJ16 117,700 30,600 119,500 34,700 122,700 34,300 126,900 34,300 
			 J16toJ17 121,300 33,100 123,400 35,300 126,800 36,400 129,500 36,100 
			 J17toJ18 125,900 33,600 128,500 37,500 132,100 37,200 136,000 37,500 
			 J18toJ19 127,200 38,100 130,000 41,800 133,300 41,800 136,900 42,600 
			 J19toJ20 108,700 28,000 110,600 31,600 113,700 32,000 116,800 31,300 
		
	
	
		
			 Location Friday Saturday Sunday 
			  Flow HGVs Flow HGVs Flow HGVs 
		
		
			 J11AtoJ12 129,100 31,600 94,300 13,200 101,500 10,600 
			 J12toJ13 131,400 31,500 95,300 13,300 102,200 10,700 
			 J13toJ14 131,500 30,200 94,200 12,700 101,000 9,500 
			 J14toJ15 123,600 29,100 89,900 11,700 97,100 9,200 
			 J15toJ16 130,100 30,600 92,600 12,100 100,200 9,000 
			 J16toJ17 132,700 31,800 97,200 13,200 103,000 9,900 
			 J17toJ18 139,000 33,300 100,200 13,500 107,100 10,300 
			 J18toJ19 138,400 37,600 100,100 15,900 106,400 12,200 
			 J19toJ20 119,400 27,800 82,900 11,400 88,900 8,700 
		
	
	Note:
	Traffic Flows are combined flows ie both directions

M6

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the estimated delivery date was of the widening reported by the Midlands to Manchester multi-modal study.

Stephen Ladyman: The West Midlands to North West Multi-Modal Study report was published on 3 May 2002. A copy of this report was placed in the Library of both Houses at the time of publication. Chapter 7 of this report provides an implementation programme for the Study's recommendations.

Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what proportion of members of the principal civil service pension scheme in his Department joined the scheme before the age of (a) 20, (b) 25, (c) 30, (d) 35, (e) 40, (f) 45 and (g) over 45 years old.

Derek Twigg: As at 24 March 2006 there were 18,183 active members of the principal civil service pension scheme in the Department for Transport. The ages at which they joined the scheme are shown in the following table.
	
		
			 Age Number 
		
		
			 (a) Before 20 3,140 
			 (b) 20 and before 25 4,043 
			 (c) 25 and before 30 2,693 
			 (d) 30 and before 35 2,116 
			 (e) 35 and before 40 2,025 
			 (f) 40 and before 45 1,860 
			 (g) 45 and after 2,306

Public Transport

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what measures have been taken and how much has been allocated since 1997 to improve the safety of public transport in (a) England, (b) the Tees Valley and (c) Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland.

Derek Twigg: We do not hold the information sought in the form requested.
	The Department continues to support the work of the police, local authorities and transport operators to tackle crime on public transport. We are developing, evaluating and disseminating good practice on reducing crime and the fear of crime wherever it occurs in the transport system. We have also introduced the secure stations scheme and launched the safer travel on buses and coaches panel. As Sponsor Department for the British Transport Police we have encouraged and assisted the force, through implementation of legislation and increased funding, to fulfil its responsibilities for policing the railways.

Railways

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many (a) fatalities and (b) injuries took place on railways in the North East in each of the last 10 years.

Derek Twigg: The Health and Safety Executive does not collect this data in the format requested. Statistics on fatalities and injuries for Great Britain for the last 10 years are published in HSE's railway safety annual reports, which are available in the House Library.

Railways

Si�n James: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what progress is being made in improving and renewing (a) track, (b) signalling, (c) station facilities and (d) other railway infrastructure in the Swansea area.

Derek Twigg: These are operational matters for Network Rail and I have asked them to reply directly to my hon. Friend.

Railways

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what subsidy was given to (a) all train operating companies and (b) train operating companies running to and from Gloucestershire in each of the last five years for which figures are available; what he expects the subsidy to be in the next three years; and if he will make a statement.

Derek Twigg: Information about annual subsidies can be found in the 2005 SRA annual report, appendix3.
	Information requested about future subsidy is in the following table.
	
		
			  2007 2008 2009 
		
		
			 Thames Trains n/a n/a n/a 
			 First Great Western Link n/a n/a n/a 
			 First Great Western 94.6 42.7 10.8 
			 Wales and West n/a n/a n/a 
			 Wessex Trains n/a n/a n/a 
			 Wales and Borders n/a n/a n/a 
			 Arriva Trains Wales (7) (7) (7) 
			 Central Trains (8) (8) (8) 
			 Virgin Crosscountry (9) (9) (9) 
		
	
	(7) From 1 April 2006 primary responsibility for the Arriva Trains Wales franchise passes to the National Assembly for Wales.
	(8) The current Central Trains franchise expires on 31 March 2006. Discussions continue over future provision of services.
	(9) Negotiations are continuing with Virgin Crosscountry over the level of subsidy it will receive in future years.

Railways

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  how many penalty fares have been issued on trains in each of the last eight years, broken down by penalty fare scheme;
	(2)  how much money has been raised from penalty fares on trains in each of the last eight years, broken down by penalty fare scheme.

Derek Twigg: The information is not held by the Department.

Railways

Si�n James: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport which train operating companies lease trains from (a) Angel Trains Ltd. and (b) HSBC Rail UK Ltd.; and what the costs of such leasing were in 200405.

Derek Twigg: The information is as follows.
	(a) The following franchised train operators lease rolling stock from Angel Trains Ltd.:
	C2C
	Central Trains
	Chiltern Railways
	First Great Western
	First Great Western Link
	GNER
	London North Eastern Railways ('one')
	Merseyrail
	Midland Mainline
	Northern Rail Ltd.
	Scotrail
	Silverlink
	South Eastern Trains
	South West Trains
	TransPennine Express
	Virgin West Coast
	Wales  Borders
	Wessex Trains
	West Anglia  Great Northern
	(b) The following franchisee! train operators lease rolling stock from HSBC Rail UK Ltd.:
	Chiltern Railways
	First Great Western
	GNER
	Island Line
	London North Eastern Railways ('one')
	Midland Mainline
	New Southern Railway Ltd.
	Scotrail
	Silverlink
	South Eastern Trains
	TransPennine Express
	West Anglia  Great Northern
	Each year the rail industry pays over 1 billion to the Rolling Stock Operating Companies (ROSCOs) to lease stock (eg engines and carriages).

Railways

Anthony Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what public consultation the Department undertook in designing the timetable to and from the West Country set out in the Greater Western Franchise.

Derek Twigg: holding answer 21 March 2006
	The Strategic Rail Authority initiated public consultation on the Greater Western franchise on 2 June 2005, and consultation closed on 2 August 2005. 253 responses were received. The Department for Transport placed a report on the consultation on its website in October 2005.

Road Accidents

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many (a) casualties and (b) fatalities on the roads were attributed to driving under the influence of (i) alcohol and (ii) drugs in each of the last five years.

Stephen Ladyman: The estimates for the number of fatalities and casualties in accidents involving illegal alcohol levels between 2000 and 2004 are published in table 2a in the Drinking and Driving article in Road Casualties Great BritainAnnual Report. The report for 2004 was published on 29 September 2005 and a copy placed in the House of Commons Library.
	The Department does not collect information on the number of casualties attributed to drivers under the influence of drugs, but I refer to the hon. Member to my answer of 23 January 2006, Official Report, columns 172677W.

Road Deaths

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the number of people killed in road accidents on roads maintained by local authorities in the last year for which figures are available.

Stephen Ladyman: The number of fatalities on local authority roads in personal injury road accidents in Great Britain in 2004 was 2,637.

Roads (Romford/Havering)

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much was spent on repairing roads in (a) Romford and (b) Havering in each of the last 10 years.

Stephen Ladyman: This information is not held centrally and would only be obtainable from the relevant local highway authorities, Essex county council and the London borough of Havering respectively.

School Run

Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent discussions he has held with local education authorities on the staggering of school opening times to ease traffic congestion arising from school transport.

Stephen Ladyman: The Secretary of State for Transport has not had any recent discussions with local education authorities on the staggering of school opening times to ease traffic congestion arising from school transport.
	The Government believe that decisions regarding term dates and school opening times are best taken locally by those affected, and reflect the needs of parents, pupils and the local community. The school governing body decides when sessions should begin and end on each school day.
	The joint Department for Transport and Department for Education and Skills Travelling to School project works with local authorities and schools to develop travel plans. The project encourages:
	schools to consider whether staggered school opening hours can allow pupils to access a wider range of school based activities; and
	local authorities to investigate whether they can broker staggered school opening times with groups of schools.
	The project's objective is for local authorities to work with all schools to help them develop and implement school travel plans that meet local circumstances before the end of the decade.

Smartcard Technology

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans his Department has for the roll-out of smartcard technology for travel on (a) buses, (b) trams and (c) metro systems outside London.

Stephen Ladyman: In England, outside London, it is for local transport authorities, working with public transport operators, to decide whether to introduce smartcard technology on buses, trams and metro systems, in response to local needs and priorities.
	Local Transport Planning Guidance stipulates that the Integrated Transport Smartcard Organisation (ITSO) Specifications, which form part of the e-Government Unit e-Government Interoperability Framework GIF standards, shall be used for all procurements.
	The ITSO Specificationsthe national standards for ticketing systemswere published by the Department for Transport in March 2004.

Superannuation Liability

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what total amount of employers' normal contributions accruing superannuation liability charge have been accounted for by his Department in each of the last five years for which data are available.

Derek Twigg: The total amount of employers' accruing superannuation liability charge that has been accounted for by the Department since it was created in 2002 is:
	
		
			  000 
		
		
			 200203 38,604 
			 200304 44,757 
			 200405 50,719 
			 200506(10) 67,870 
		
	
	(10) Estimated.

Terrorism

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much was made available to (a) prevent and (b) deal with terrorist attacks on UK ports and harbours in 200506.

Stephen Ladyman: The cost burden of maintaining secure ports and harbours falls mainly to industry. The lead for dealing with terrorist attacks when they occur in the UK lies with the Home Office, the police and other emergency services. The Department is unable to provide information on how much of their total provisions for 200506 was made available to prepare for terrorist attacks in the UK's ports and harbours. Within the Department, the Directorate of Transport Security and Civil Contingencies works closely with industry to ensure that the regulatory provisions for security that apply to ports and harbours .are met. In 200506 the Directorate budgeted 1.7 million which includes the running costs for 34 staff who are mainly working to prevent terrorist attacks on maritime transport targets including our ports and harbours. Staff who are working on cross-cutting tasks within the Directorate also contribute to this effort.

Traffic Offences

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what representations he has received from police forces proposing the introduction of a power to seize vehicles showing multiple traffic offences.

Stephen Ladyman: None. I am aware of a possible issue that was brought to my attention by the hon. Member for South-West Bedfordshire (Andrew Selous) in the course of the Second Reading debate on the Road Safety Bill and which that hon. Member has since met me to discuss. I invited the head of ACPO roads policing to give me his views, which were to the effect that no new powers are required to deal with the issue. I am currently considering his advice.

Transport Statistics

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the passengers in excess of capacity figures were for each route on (a) rail and (b) metro services in each passenger transport authority area in each of the past eight years.

Derek Twigg: Figures for passengers in excess of capacity (PIXC) apply to weekday commuter trains arriving in London between 07:00 and 09:59 and those departing London between 16:00 and 18:59. The PIXC measure does not apply to rail and metro services within Passenger Transport Authorities in the UK and therefore such information cannot be provided, due to the disproportionate cost of resources required to extract this in the format requested.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Afghanistan

Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development whether the British Government has honoured agreements reached with farmers in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, regarding the payment of compensation in return for the eradication of poppy crops.

Kim Howells: I have been asked to reply.
	No recent representations have been made by local community leaders in Helmand Province to the British embassy in Afghanistan regarding the non-payment of compensation for poppy eradication. However, I am aware of claims by the Senlis Council on this subject. As my right hon. Friend the Defence Secretary told the House on 27 March 2006, Official Report, columns 52931, the Senlis Council campaigns for the legalisation of opium production in Afghanistan on the grounds that it might be used for medicinal purposes. Neither the Government of Afghanistan nor the UK believe that legal cultivation would be viable in the present situation in Afghanistan.
	The programme of compensated eradication in 2002 was led by the Afghan Transitional Authority who considered it appropriate to offer a one-off programme of payments to opium farmers on the basis that the poppy crop had been planted during the Taliban regime, before the current regime came to power. The UK provided financial assistance worth 21.25 million to support the new regime's commitment to tackle drugs production, but it was the responsibility of the Afghan authorities to administer the system of payments with farmers. The Government did not set up a bank account for this purpose. Compensated eradication was never seen as a long-term solution to drug control and does not form part of the present Afghan government's National Drug Control Strategy.
	We are aware of reports that UK funds for compensated eradication may have been misused in the past. The Government take all reasonable measures to guard against fraud and financial irregularity in the use of public funds. All public expenditure, including that in respect of counter narcotics work in Afghanistan, is subject to the established scrutiny procedures of parliamentary committees and the National Audit Office.

Iraq

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent representations he has received from the Iraqi Government on UK aid.

Hilary Benn: During the last two and a half years, I have visited Iraq on four separate occasions and have had discussions with a wide range of Iraqi ministers and senior Government officials. My last visit to Baghdad and Basra was from 20 to 21 March. I met with Prime Minister Ja'afari, Foreign Minister Zebari, and talked to Planning Minister Barham Salih. During our discussions, they expressed appreciation of our continued support to Iraq's reconstruction. 2006 marks an important chapter in Iraq's development towards becoming a fully fledged democracy as well as taking the first, tough steps towards developing a strong, prosperous economy. The new Government needs to form quickly and effectively to take charge of the challenges ahead. We will discuss DFID's support programme in depth with the new Government when it comes into office.
	The UK pledged 544 million for Iraq's reconstruction at the Madrid donors conference in October 2003. To date, over 510 million of this pledge has been disbursed. DFID continues to offer support to the Iraqi Government, to help:
	reform their economy,
	improve power and water services in the south,
	develop open, accountable government systems that people can feel confidence in, and which promote the rule of law.
	We are also providing support for Iraqi civil society organisations, to boost community participation in shaping their country's future. Our programme for 200506 (65 million), has supported projects on water, electricity, supporting participation in the political process, support to the centre of government, and capacity building in local government. We expect to spend another 45 million in 200607.

Medicinal Aid

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much his Department has spent on medicinal aid to developing countries since 1997.

Gareth Thomas: It is difficult to quantify the specific UK spend on medicines since 1997 due to the rapid changes over this period in how DFID finances health. Increasingly DFID contributes to pooled funds with other partners or provides untied funds into the health sector budget or contributes to the general budget of a country. The procurement of medicines is carried out directly by recipient governments or by the recipients of UK funds.
	The UK Government are a major donor to the Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB and Malaria (GFATM) and has committed 359 million through to 2008. Almost half of the GFATM funds are used to procure drugs and medical supplies. The UK also provides substantial support to other global health initiatives such as the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI), Roll Back Malaria and Stop TB, and to UN agencies such as the World Health Organisation (WHO), UNICEF and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), all of which procure medicines and/or vaccines.
	In September 2005, the UK launched, with other donors, the International Financing Facility for Immunisation (IFFIm). This will provide $4 billion over a 10-year period to support the purchase of vaccines by developing countries and the strengthening of immunisation systems.
	The United Kingdom (UK) Government are committed to improving access to essential medicines in developing countries. In general, DFID spends money on efforts to, strengthen national medicine systems; ensuring affordable pricing and sustainable financing, reliable health services and the rational selection and use of drugs, rather than buying medicines specifically.
	Since 1997, DFID has spent over 1.5 billion to support the development of health systems in poor countries. Specific initiatives related to medicines include providing 39 million to support the Nigeria Partnership for Transforming Health Systems and 3.6 million to the South African Drug Action programme which has increased the number of health care centres that use approved lists of essential medicines. DFID has provided support to the WHO to appoint national professional officers for essential medicines in 11 African countries, to provide technical assistance on supply, management and rational use of medicines.

Middle East

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development 
	(1)  if he will make a statement on the G8 aid pledged to the Palestinians in the light of the recent Palestinian elections;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of the capacity of the Palestinian Authority to administer funds pledged by the G8 and EU.

Hilary Benn: The agreement reached at the G8 summit was to support the Quartet Special Envoy for Disengagement, Mr. James Wolfensohn, in his intention to stimulate a global financial contribution of up to $3 billion per year over the coming three years. However, this was based on a recognition that certain conditions need to be in place for additional aid to be effective, notably on movement and access to markets for Palestinians.
	An agreement reached on November 15, 2005, between Israel and the Palestinian Authority on movement and access would, if implemented, meet several of those conditions. So far this agreement has not been fully implemented.
	Following the recent Palestinian elections in which Hamas won an absolute majority further assistance to the Palestinian Authority (PA) is under review. The Quartet, comprising the European Union, the United States, the United Nations and Russia has said that aid to the future Palestinian Government will depend on it giving up violence, recognising Israel's right to exist and signing up to previous peace agreements.

Middle East

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps his Department is taking to help the Palestinian Authority establish rule of law in the Palestinian Territories.

Hilary Benn: DFID has provided funding, training, management support and equipment for the EU co-ordinating office for the Palestinian Police Support (EU COPPS). The EU COPPS has helped to co-ordinate donor assistance to the police and played an important role in the run up to and during the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. Advisers from the EU COPPS have been working closely with the Palestinian police force to support organisational reform. This reform is aimed at a more effective, accountable and efficient police force.
	Since 1 January 2006, the EU COPPS became an EU policing mission under the European Security and Defence Policy.
	Future DFID assistance will depend on the new Palestinian Government's commitment to the principles outlined in the statement of 30 January by the Quartet of the United States, European Union, Russia and the United Nations.

Middle East

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what monitoring is being put in place to ensure that development funding for the Palestinians does not go to Hamas.

Hilary Benn: Aid to the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority (PA) is being reviewed against its commitment to the quartet principles of non-violence, recognition of Israel, and commitment to the peace process. We hope that the new PA will comply with these conditions, in which case funding will continue. If they do not comply, we will look carefully at other options for helping the Palestinian people. This will not include projects where there is a risk of aid being diverted to funding Hamas. The UK Government will not allow taxpayers' money to be used to fund terrorism, terrorist organisations or anything other than poverty reduction.

Middle East

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of the merits of using non-governmental organisation funding as a means of sustaining international aid to the Palestinians.

Hilary Benn: Non-governmental organisations play a vital role in meeting the needs of some Palestinians and holding the Palestinian Authority (PA) to account. However, they do not have the capacity to substitute for an effective PA. DFID has international experience of helping governments to deliver essential services. This is our preferred way of working and, in the past, we have put much of our aid through the PA.
	Following the recent Palestinian elections, however! aid to the Hamas-led PA is being reviewed against its commitment to the Quartet principles of non-violence, recognition of Israel and commitment to the peace process. We hope that the new PA will comply with these conditions, in which case funding will continue. If it does not comply we will look carefully at other options for helping the Palestinian people. However, for the time being, it is too early to say which options would be most suitable.

Nepal

Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development pursuant to his answer of 27 March 2006, Official Report, column 626W, on Nepal, whether a company has been appointed as management contractor; and what the contractor's responsibilities will be.

Hilary Benn: The Kathmandu Valley Water Supply Management Support Committee invited bids from international water utility companies for the job of Management Contractor. DFID understands that Severn Trent Water International Ltd, a UK based company, was the only bidder and that the Evaluation Committee, consisting of relevant Government representatives, is evaluating the bid.
	The Management Contractor will be required to assist the newly formed Water Utility Operator company. The company will assume responsibility for managing the water supply system of the Kathmandu Valley from around July 2006.

Oil Pipelines

Andrew Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what criteria his Department uses in deciding whether to fund oil pipeline projects in developing countries.

Gareth Thomas: DFID's involvement with oil pipeline projects in developing countries is an indirect one; as a 'shareholder' in multilateral financial institutions, such as the World Bank and the Regional Development Banks, which invest in projects in this sector, DFID does not fund oil pipeline projects directly.
	As part of DFID's responsibilities in this 'shareholder' role, DFID monitors developments in the oil, gas and minerals sectors. This work focuses on the general principles adopted in the environmental and social policies and procedures of the multilateral banks because these provide the framework within which the environmental, social and economic impacts of specific projects are managed 'on the ground'.
	For example, DFID has been actively engaged in the Extractive Industries Review, which assessed the compatibility of the World Bank's investments in the sector with their mission of poverty reduction and sustainable development.
	More recently, DFID has also contributed to the International Finance Corporation's review of its environmental and social safeguards policies and procedureskey tools in ensuring the prudent management of the exploitation of natural resources in developing countries.

Peru

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent assessment he has made of (a) poverty and (b) income levels in Peru.

Gareth Thomas: DFID keeps informed about poverty and income levels in Peru through its regional Andean office, based in La Paz Bolivia. Currently, national poverty rates put total poverty (moderate and extreme) at 54.7 per cent., and extreme poverty at 21.5 per cent. of the population 1 . Average household income is estimated at 317 Nuevo Soles per person per month (just under US$100). Inequality in Peru is a grave problem and poverty is much higher in rural areas, where total poverty is 76.4 per cent. and extreme poverty 45.6 per cent., versus 43.0 per cent. and 8.5 per cent. for urban areas.
	There have been some improvements in the country-wide situation during recent years. Between 2001 and 2003, overall poverty remained the same, but extreme poverty fell slightly from 24.2 per cent. Additionally, since the mid-1990s, housing conditions have improvedfor example, the percentage of the population with access to improved sanitation rose from 50.3 per cent. in 1995 to 57.0 per cent. in 2002. Urban youth unemployment in young people has fallen slightly, from 14.3 per cent. to 12.4 per cent. in the same period. 2
	1 Statistic in this submission are based on household income data collected by the National Institute of Statistics and Information.
	2 http://www.eqxis-bid.org/AtAGIance/PeruTR.pdf.

Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what proportion of members of the Principal Civil Service pension scheme in his Department joined the scheme before the age of (a) 20, (b) 25, (c) 30, (d) 35, (e) 40, (f) 45 and (g) over 45 years old.

Gareth Thomas: As at 29 March 2006, there were 1,904 active members of the Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme in the Department for International Development. The ages at which they joined the scheme are shown in the table.
	
		
			 Age Number 
		
		
			 (a) before 20 126 
			 (b) 20 and before 25 338 
			 (c) 25 and before 30 393 
			 (d) 30 and before 35 324 
			 (e) 35 and before 40 264 
			 (f) 40 and before 45 220 
			 (g) 45 and after 239

Superannuation Liability

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what total amount of employers' normal contributions accruing superannuation liability charge has been accounted for by his Department in each of the last five years for which data are available.

Gareth Thomas: In the Department for International Development, the amount of employers' accruing superannuation liability charges in respect of members of the Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme in the last five years is as follows:
	
		
			   million 
		
		
			 200405(11) 8.506 
			 200304(11) 7.673 
			 200203(11) 6.803 
			 200102 5.860 
			 200001 5.526 
		
	
	(11) From 1 October 2002, new entrants have been able to opt for a partnership pension partnership account, a stakeholder arrangement with an employer contribution. Employers' contributions to partnership pension accounts are not included in the figures.

Uruguay

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps his Department is taking to assist Uruguay to diversify its trade.

Gareth Thomas: As a middle income country, Uruguay receives a relatively low share of international development assistance. DFID does not provide direct bilateral assistance to Uruguay. DFID's main financial contribution to Latin America is through the UK's contributions to multi-lateral organisations such as the European Commission (EC), the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) and the World Bank, whose programmes include support to Uruguay's development.
	The EC's present country strategy paper (2001 to 2006) for Uruguay, with indicative funding of 18.6 million, includes an 8.4 million (45 per cent.) component for economic reform. This is aimed particularly at helping Uruguay to diversify its industrial base beyond the production and export of commodities. Furthermore, the Commission is continuing to negotiate with Mercosur, of which Uruguay is a member, for a new EU-Mercosur free trade agreement. If successfully achieved, such an agreement, with appropriate complementary policy measures in place, could be expected to contribute to Uruguay's trade diversification.
	The World Bank's country assistance strategy for Uruguay, which projects assistance of up to US$800 million between 2005 and 2010, includes the promotion of sustained and broad-based growth. New loan projects, such as a $70 million project to upgrade the country's transport infrastructure, can be expected to help facilitate access to markets and diversification of economic activity.
	The Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) country strategy for Uruguay (2005 to 2009) includes the objective of enhancing the regional and international competitiveness of national outputs and promoting private sector investment. Within this, the strategy aims to strengthen Uruguay's access to export markets and the internationalisation of its business and industry.
	As part of its regional assistance plan for Latin America, DFID is also providing 7.5 million over four years (2005 to 2009) to strengthen the effectiveness of the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank in reducing poverty in Latin America through activities related to markets and international trade. While aimed primarily at those countries in the region with lower incomes and greater poverty, the programme could bring benefits to Uruguay in terms of the improved effectiveness and operations of the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank.

MINISTER FOR WOMEN

Departmental Staff

Philip Hammond: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality how many and what proportion of (a) staff and (b) new staff employed in her office in each of the last three years for which data are available were registered as disabled.

Meg Munn: The Cabinet Office collects and publishes annually statistical information on the civil service by Department. These include data on the number of staff in departments who have declared a disability. Declaration of a disability is voluntary.
	The latest available information at April 2004 is available in the Libraries of the House and on the civil service website at the following addresses: http://www.civilservice.gov.uk/management/statistics/publications/xls/disability.apr04_4nov04.xls for data relating to 1 April 2004, and http://www.civilservice.gov.uk/management/statistics/archive/index.asp for previous reporting periods.
	Information on staff in individual offices is not available.

Pay Discrepancies

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality what recent representations she has received on discrepancies in pay received by men and women.

Meg Munn: The Women and Work Commission presented their final report 'Shaping a Fairer Future' to my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on 27 February 2006. I was pleased to see their findings and recommendations to close the gender pay and opportunities gap. The Government are determined to take action to address all causes of the pay gap highlighted in the Women and Work Commission report and will issue an action plan within six months. The Commission will come together again in one year to receive a report into progress on the recommendations and to comment on their effectiveness.

Prostitutes (Tolerance Zones)

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality what discussions she has had with the Home Secretary on the merits of introducing tolerance zones for prostitutes.

Meg Munn: holding answer 27 March 2006
	As a member of the Ministerial Group on Sexual Offending, I work closely with Home Office colleagues to ensure that the work of the group, which includes prostitution, addresses women's needs. I was actively involved in the launch of the prostitution strategy on 17 January, together with a number of colleagues across Government, which reflects how seriously we are taking this issue.
	The Government have looked very carefully at managed areas, and the recent prostitution consultation document, Paying the Price, specifically invited comment on this option.
	There is no real evidence that formal managed areas can deliver what we want in terms of improving the safety of those involved in prostitution, and improving the safety and quality of life within those communities affected. We are committed to listening to the concerns of the community, which has a significant part to play in the development of an effective local response to prostitution.

Women (Trafficking)

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality what discussions she has had with the Home Secretary on (a) the number of women brought into the United Kingdom to be sold into the vice trade and (b) improving the support and assistance for such women who agree to help the authorities in a prosecution case against those who trafficked them.

Meg Munn: holding answer 27 March 2006
	As a member of the Ministerial Group on Human Trafficking, I work closely with Home Office colleagues to ensure that provision for victims is sensitive to women's needs.
	We do not have the evidence base to enable us to estimate the number of trafficking victims brought into the UK to be sold into the vice trade. We are seeking more evidence of all human trafficking, including trafficking for sexual exploitation, as part of our current consultation on the proposed UK Action Plan on human trafficking. In that consultation, we state that we will publish research into the harm caused by organised immigration crime, including trafficking. This research will provide a better understanding of the trafficking problem faced in the UK and will be updated annually. This year we will commence a scoping exercise focused on trafficking and the off-street prostitution market.
	The UK recognises the needs of victims of trafficking and the POPPY scheme already provides a supporting and protective environment in which victims can receive care and support while deciding whether to assist the authorities. We propose to increase the geographical coverage of support services for victims and introduce support at varying levels of intensity according to individual need. We will also use the evaluation of the POPPY scheme and the responses to the consultation on the UK Action Plan to inform our decisions on the nature and scope of future support.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

Belvedere Incinerator

David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he expects to announce his decision on the proposed Belvedere waste to energy incinerator; and if he will make a statement.

Malcolm Wicks: I intend announcing the decision shortly.

Carbon Energy Reserves

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what reserves of (a) natural gas, (b) oil and (c) coal the UK has.

Malcolm Wicks: Estimate of UK oil and gas reserves are published annually on the DTI's Oil and Gas website at:
	http://www.og.dti.gov.uk/information/bb_updates/chapters/reserves_index.htm.
	The Coal Authority estimates reserves at operating and developing mines in the UK to be between 500 and 600 million tonnes. There is no accurate estimate of what further reserves may become accessible from any future mining development beyond that already in prospect. Total coal deposits (in seams over 0.6m thick and less than 1,200m deep) have been estimated in the order of 190 billion tonnes, although much of this is unlikely to be technically or economically exploitable.

Correspondence

Robert Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Employment Relations and Consumer Affairs will reply to the letter from the hon. Member for Salisbury, of 18 August 2005, about Mr. Chris Knight of Craze Brothers Ltd. in Salisbury.

Alan Johnson: I apologise for the extremely long delay in responding to the hon. Member's letter. This was due to administrative error and a reply will be sent shortly.

Correspondence

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he will reply to the letter from the hon. Member for Leominster (Bill Wiggin), of 3 February 2006 on behalf of Mr. Beach, a constituent of the hon. Member.

Alan Johnson: I regret the delay in responding to the hon. Member's letter of 3 February 2006.
	My Department is seeking further information on the issues Mr. Beach has raised and I will reply as soon as possible.

Cyber Crime

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for the Home Department on the action to be taken by the Serious Organised Crime Agency to combat international cyber crime.

Alun Michael: I understand, that the Serious Organised Crime Agency will have a significantly stronger cyber crime function than that of its precursor agencies. Officials in my Department work closely with their colleagues in the Home Office, and have worked closely with the Agency's precursor units on how best to prevent cyber crime.

Easter Act

Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether he plans to implement the principal provision of the Easter Act 1928; and why the Government has not implemented the provision since 1997.

Gerry Sutcliffe: We have no plans to implement the Easter Act 1928. It remains on the Statute Book but the Act requires that before a draft order is laid before Parliament
	regard shall be had to any opinion officially expressed by any Church or other Christian Body.
	At this time, the churches have not all expressed a desire or willingness to move to a fixed Easter.

Energy Efficiency

Nadine Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps he is taking to increase energy efficiency within his Department; and if he will make a statement.

Alan Johnson: DTI are working toward achieving the energy efficiency targets expressed in the Government framework for sustainable development, Part EEnergy. The targets set are to improve the energy efficiency of the buildings on the estate by 15 per cent. in terms of KWH usage and that used per square metre by 201011.
	The DTI London HQ estate is being reduced by approximately 30 per cent. as the result of a major rationalisation programme to make more efficient use of our accommodation with significant associated reductions in the Department's overall energy usage.
	The Department has implemented a number of energy efficiency initiatives since the target was published. The main strategy is to gain efficiencies as a result of the estate strategy to reduce the physical size of the estate and the number of buildings. We have also included a number of energy efficiency projects in our main buildings to improve lighting and environmental controls as well as occupant awareness. We have also commissioned a feasibility study through the Carbon Trust to look at the potential for micro generation on the remaining DTI buildings.

Equal Opportunities Commission

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry for what reasons he has reduced the budget of the Equal Opportunities Commission.

Meg Munn: The budget for the EOC for 200607 has not yet been finalised. The budgets for EOC, as with all programmes, have not yet been agreed. It is currently expected that some additional one-off funding baseline will again be given.
	An indicative resource budget for 200607 was given to the EOC in February 2005. Over recent weeks there have been further discussions with the EOC around agreeing their resource budget for the coming year but it has not been possible to issue formal allocation letters before finalisation of the overall DTI budget for the year.
	All DTI budgets are currently being finalised in a very touch public expenditure climate.

Equal Opportunities Commission

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the budget is for the Equal Opportunities Commission for (a) 200506 and (b) 200607.

Meg Munn: The resource budget allocation for the EOC for 200506 is 9.75 million. This is made up of a baseline funding of 8.005 million plus and additional DTI funding of 1.7 million including 500,000 for the gender duty giving a total of 9.75 million.
	The 200607 budgets for EOC, as with all programmes, have not yet been finalised.

Euro

Alan Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans his Department has in place for the introduction of the euro.

Alan Johnson: The Department of Trade and Industry prepared a Managed Transition Plan for any introduction of the euro in December 2004. This would be required if Government, Parliament and the people, in a referendum, all agreed that joining the euro would be the right thing to do.

Financial Irregularities

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many cases of financial irregularities have been recorded in his Department in each of the last five financial years; and if he will make a statement.

Alan Johnson: The financial irregularities identified in Department of Trade and Industry are featured in the annual returns to Treasury on Frauds and Thefts. Records are only available for the last 4 financial years for which fraud returns have been completed.
	The details are as follows:
	
		
			  Number of cases Total value () 
		
		
			 200001 6 11,000 
			 200203 3 14,000 
			 200304   
			 2004 -05 4 44,000 
		
	
	These sums are cases involving established internal misconduct or where, if it has not been possible to identify the perpetrator, it has been assumed that there was internal involvement. These figures do not include details of straightforward theft of minor assets.

Global Nuclear Energy Partnership

David Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he expects his Department to announce its response to the strategy set out in the United States Global Nuclear Energy Partnership proposals.

Malcolm Wicks: The United Kingdom is discussing, with the United States, the development of the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership. There have been bi-lateral meetings between the United Kingdom and the United States to discuss the American proposals. However, this proposed programme is at very early stage and there is no need for, nor timetable for, an announcement at this point.

India

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on the level of UK trade with India.

Ian Pearson: UK Exports to India show a 27.4 per cent. increase to November 2005 compared to the same period in 2004.
	UK imports from India increased by 20.1 per cent. to November 2005, compared to the same period in 2004.
	The Total Trade with India to December 2004 was 6.4 billion (2005 figures will be released in July 2006).
	The UK is the 5th biggest investor in India with UK companies involved in 9.8 per cent. of all new FDI into India since 1991.
	Indian investment into the UK is growing rapidly when measured in terms of investment projects and jobs created. Up to 31 December 2005 UKTI had assisted 33 Indian companies invest in the UK (up 22 per cent. on 2004).
	As the Indian economy continues to grow, it is vital that businesses in UK seize the opportunities on offer. The Government will increase its effort to support British business to access the Indian market.

Lead Organ Pipes

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps he is taking to ensure that on (a) the restriction of hazardous substances (2002 95/EC) and (b) waste electrical and electronic equipment (2002 96/EC) prohibiting the use of lead in component manufacture do not adversely affect the organ building and repair industry.

Malcolm Wicks: The Department of Trade and Industry continues to work closely with the European Commission, other member states and industry on the RoHS and WEEE directives.
	The repair and refurbishment of existing pipe organs (both now and in the future) will not be affected; neither will pipe organs that are not reliant on electricity to function. A total exemption for the manufacture of new pipe organs from the substances restrictions of the RoHS directive would require a formal application by the industry to the European Commission (under article 5.1b). The Department has offered to work with the industry to help them develop such a case.

Lead Organ Pipes

David Chaytor: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment he has made of the likely impact of the EU Directive on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment on pipe organ (a) building and (b) maintenance; and if he will make a statement.

Malcolm Wicks: There is no impact on pipe organ building or maintenance arising from the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive.

Lead Organ Pipes

Desmond Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what representations he has received on the impact of EU legislation on lead pipe organs; and if he will make a statement.

Malcolm Wicks: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has received a number of e-mails and letters as part of a campaign originated by the Institute of British Organ Building (IBO). DTI officials have been working with the IBO and met with them recently.

Low Carbon Building Programme

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry on what date householders will be able to submit grant applications to his Department's Low Carbon Buildings Programme.

Malcolm Wicks: Householders will be able to access the Low Carbon Buildings Programme website from 3 April to find out details on how to apply for grants:
	www.lowcarbonbuildings.org.uk.

Low Carbon Building Programme

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate he has made of the amount of capital grant support which will be spent on solar photovoltaics in the first year of the Low Carbon Buildings Programme.

Malcolm Wicks: I refer my hon. Friend to the reply given to the hon. Member for East Surrey (Mr. Ainsworth) on 22 March 2006, Official Report, column 392W.

Manufacturing

John Cummings: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps he is taking to promote the manufacturing industry in the North East.

Alun Michael: The importance of manufacturing to the North East of England, and to the whole UK economy, is reflected in the Department of Trade and Industry's Manufacturing Strategy. Launched in 2002, the strategy sets out the actions needed to create a high value, high skill manufacturing sector capable of introducing new products and processes into our economy, creating new markets, and delivering a huge boost to our prosperity. In response to the strategy, and the subsequent review in 2004, we have:
	Established the Manufacturing Forum to ensure the effective implementation and evolution of the Manufacturing Strategy. This sets out priority areas for targeted action, bringing together Government, industry, trade unions, Regional Development Agencies, and other stakeholders to support manufacturing.
	Set up the Manufacturing Advisory Service (MAS) to give manufacturers in every region direct access to practical advice and support from manufacturing experts. Since its establishment in 2002 the MAS has generated over 12 million in value-added for manufacturing firms in the North East of England alone.
	Set up innovation and growth teams to plan how the UK can best respond to the competitive challenges that key UK industries, such as automotive, aerospace, chemicals and materials, will face in the future.
	Built on the UK's world class science base, and strengthened links between higher education and industry. The science budget has more than doubled from 1.3 billion in 1997. This will rise to 3.4 billion in 200708, enabling businesses gain competitive advantage by drawing on a strong science base.
	Launched the Technology Programme to support research and development in key new and emerging technologies.
	Extended the scope of RD Tax Credits, encouraging manufacturers to invest in RD.
	Put in place a network of Sector Skills Councils to ensure industry gets the skills it needs, and strengthened Apprenticeships by introducing a structure that is more responsive to employers' needs.
	Supported investment through changes to Corporation Tax and Capital Gains Tax, through the Small Firms Loan Guarantee Scheme, and through programmes such as Selective Finance for Investment in England (previously Regional Selective Assistance), Grant for Research and Development, and new regional venture capital funds.
	Regional Development Agency, ONE NorthEast, administers the Selective Finance for Investment in England (SFIE), and Grant for Research and Development schemes in the region on behalf of DTI. Total spend (in  million) since 2002 on these schemes in the North East of England is set out in the following table.
	
		
			  Total spend ( million) 
			  SFIE Grant for R  D 
		
		
			 200203 11.90 1.22 
			 200304 18.13 1.47 
			 200405 19.53 1.54 
			 200506 14.64 1.23 
		
	
	Source:
	ONE North East)
	In addition, ONE NorthEast's North East Productivity Alliance (NEPA) has successfully assisted a large number of manufacturing companies to gain from enhanced engineering expertise, leading to significant productivity improvements.
	The Department of Trade and Industry also provides funding through a wide number of schemes, initiatives and collaborative programmes of direct and indirect benefit to the manufacturing sector in the North East of England, including :
	Commitment of 7.2 million funding to ONE NorthEast under its University Innovation Centre (UIC) programme in 2002 to fund the North East UIC in Nanotechnologya consortium of the five regional universities, in association with industrial partners;
	Higher Education Innovation Fund (HEIF, jointly funded by DTI and DfES) allocation of 13 million through HEEF1 (200204) and HEIF2 (200406) to the North East's universities for projects benefiting business and the community;
	Support for the Centre for Process Innovation (CPI), the Wilton-based centre of excellence.
	In addition to the specific initiatives mentioned, measures to streamline business support, ensure better business regulation, open up international markets, provide support for exporters, build flexible labour markets, foster science and innovation, deliver secure and sustainable energy, encourage knowledge transfer, support the implementation of best practice, and reform company law, are currently being pursued. These measuresalong with providing strong economic stability through low inflation, low interest rates and low unemploymentwill benefit all business sectors, and will allow manufacturing businesses across the North East of England to plan and invest with confidence for the long term.

Micro Renewables

Andrew Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment he has made of the impact on jobs and investment in the UK's micro renewables sector of his Department's decision to end annual grant support to micro renewable customers from 2006 to 2009; and if he will make a statement.

Malcolm Wicks: The Department will continue to fund the micro renewables sector between 2006 to 2009 through a new Low Carbon Buildings programme, which will continue to offer grants for the installation of renewable technologies. The original budget of 30 million was also increased in the Budget 2006 with an additional 50 million.
	Our longer-term commitment to this sector is demonstrated through our microgeneration strategy, which was launched on the 29 March.

Ministerial Meetings

Alan Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list the occasions on which the Minister of State for Energy has met (a) the Committee on Radioactive Waste Management and (b) British Energy in the last 12 months.

Malcolm Wicks: I have met Gordon McKerron once in his capacity as chairman of the Committee on Radioactive Waste Management during the last 12 months.
	I have met with British Energy once in the last 12 months. This was as part of the Department's formal monitoring arrangements that it has put in place following the company's restructuring in 2005.

Natural Gas

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment he has made of the implications of the capping of natural gas prices in (a) Russia and (b) China.

Malcolm Wicks: International gas market issues are important elements of the UK's approach to energy security as set out in the document UK International Priorities-The Energy Strategy produced jointly by Department of Trade and Industry, FCO and DEFRA. It is available online at:
	http://www.fco.gov.uk/selet/Front?PagenameOpenMarket/Xcelerate/ShowPagecPagecidl107298279424
	The strategy recognises that low (or capped) gas prices in Russia (and by implication China) deter investors from building new capacity in production and infrastructure and reduce incentives for energy efficiency. DTI, FCO and DEFRA will continue to assess the implications to UK energy security in the context of all the issues identified in the strategy.

Non-fossil Fuel and Renewables Obligations

David Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what consideration his Department has given to extending the Renewables Obligation beyond 2027.

Malcolm Wicks: The Renewables Obligation (RO) will remain in place until 2027 to ensure investor confidence in the long-term. Although the Government is not currently considering extending the RO beyond 2027 the RO will continue to be monitored to ensure investor confidence is maintained.

Post Offices

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on the future of (a) post office services in rural areas and (b) the rural network.

Barry Gardiner: The Government have made available up to 300 million to support the non-commercial part of the rural post office network until 2008. In addition, Post Office Ltd. has published its report on the findings of its trials of new, innovative and cost-effective ways of delivering post office services to rural communities.
	This report will help stakeholders and customers to understand better the range of delivery options being tested by Post Office Ltd. and will make an important contribution to the wider consideration and ongoing discussions about the most effective way to deliver post office services in the 21st century. For that reason the no avoidable closures policy for rural post offices has been extended until the Autumn.

Post Offices

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many sub-post offices have closed in the West Midlands since 1997.

Barry Gardiner: This is an operational matter for the Post Office Ltd. Alan Cook, the Managing Director has been asked to reply direct to the hon. Member.

Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what proportion of members of the principal civil service pension scheme in his Department joined the scheme before the age of (a) 20, (b) 25, (c) 30, (d) 35, (e) 40, (f) 45 and (g) over 45 years old.

Alan Johnson: As at 28 February 2006 there were 9,449 active members of the principal civil service pension scheme in the Department (including DTI Executive Agencies). The ages at which they joined the scheme are shown in the following table.
	
		
			 Age Number 
		
		
			 (a) before 20 1,720 
			 (b) 20 and before 25 2,761 
			 (c) 25 and before 30 1,667 
			 (d) 30 and before 35 941 
			 (e) 35 and before 40 718 
			 (f) 40 and before 45 852 
			 (g) 45 and after 790

Private Office

Alan Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the cost was of his private office and that of his predecessors as Secretary of State in each year since 1997.

Alan Johnson: The figures showing the cost of my private office for 1997 to 2000 are held on an old accounting system and are not readily available.
	The cost of my private office for the financial years 2000 to 2005 were:
	
		
			  000 
		
		
			 200001 424 
			 200102 415 
			 200203 402 
			 200304 436 
			 200405 409 
		
	
	Note:
	The figures for 200506 are not available.

Queen's Awards

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to the answer of 13 February 2006, Official Report, column 16523W, on Queen's Awards, who the members were of the three panels of judges for the three Queen's Awards categories for (a) 2004 and (b) 2005.

Alan Johnson: Existing members of the Panel of Judges (junior selection committees), that represent the three separate categories of Business Award (for International Trade, Innovation, and Sustainable Development), who also served on the 2004 and 2005 Panels, are deliberately excluded from the public domain to avoid direct lobbying of panel members.
	Those Members of the 2004 and 2005 Panel of Judges who have since departed, are listed as follows:
	Innovation
	Sir Robin Young KCB (Chairman)
	Permanent Secretary
	Department of Trade  Industry
	Roy Collins
	Deputy Director
	Electrical Technology (EIBU)
	Department of Trade  Industry
	Shaun Gallagher
	Industry Branch
	Department of Health
	Sustainable Development
	Sir Brian Bender KCB (Chairman)
	Permanent Secretary
	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA)
	Jonathan Startup
	Director, Sustainable Development
	Department of Trade  Industry
	Professor Tim O'Riordan
	School of Environmental Sciences
	University of East Anglia
	Dr. David Lynn
	Director of Science  Innovation
	Natural Environment Research Council
	Professor Paul Ekins
	Head of Environment Group
	Policy Studies Institute
	International Trade
	Paul Barron CBE
	Chief Executive
	National Air Traffic Services Ltd.
	Kirit Pathak QBE
	Chairman  Chief Executive
	Patak's Foods Ltd.
	Sir David Brown
	Chairman
	Motorola UK
	Jacky Stevens
	Chief Executive
	Business Link Wessex
	Sir Peter Mason KBE
	Group Chief Executive
	AMEC PLC
	Derek Mapp
	Chairman
	East Midlands Development Agency
	Philippa Allan
	Stone the Crows!
	Peter Mathews CMG
	Black Country Metals Ltd.
	Arun Singh QBE
	Stuart Doughty
	Chief Executive
	Costain Group PLC

Queen's Birthday

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans his Department has to celebrate Her Majesty's 80th birthday; what advice he has issued to his Department's executive agencies on celebrations for the birthday; and if he will make a statement.

Alan Johnson: The Department will fly the Union flag on 21 April in honour of Her Majesty's 80th birthday. No instructions have been issued to executive agencies on how they might wish to mark the Queen's birthday.

Research and Development

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what financial assistance his Department is giving to research and development for industry in (a) Coventry, South and (b) the West Midlands Region.

Alun Michael: holding answer 29 March 2006
	In financial year 200506, Advantage West Midlands offered a total of 185,056 to four companies in Coventry South under the DTI's Research and Development Grant Scheme, which is designed to help individuals and small and medium-sized businesses research and develop technologically innovative products and processes. The corresponding figures for the West Midlands are 1,607,871 being offered to 19 companies.
	Advantage West Midlands also contributed 332.6 million towards the 70 million Premium Auto Research and Development Program (PARD) at the University of Warwick.
	PARD assists companies involved in supplying to the luxury car industry and is also supported by partner companies including Jaguar and Land Rover. It allows companies who would not normally be able to invest heavily in research and development to use the cutting-edge facilities at the Warwick Manufacturing Group, ensuring West Midlands firms gain access to the highest level of skills and technology. Since being launched in 2003, projects have covered areas such advanced body joining techniques, characterisation of new vehicle materials, crash analysis and the exploitation of IT technologies.
	CovPress, a company based in Coventry South, is one of the 200 companies that have benefited from PARD to improve their productivity. Through PARD, the company has been able to tackle a series of production issues at their plant and develop increasingly sophisticated body parts.

Royal Mail

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether all outgoing post from his Department is sent using the Royal Mail; and what criteria his Department uses to determine postal arrangements.

Alan Johnson: The more specialist requirements for external mail are already subject to competitive tender in the DTI and intergovernmental mail is handled by the normal interdepartmental service (IDS) run by Cabinet Office. We continue to use Royal Mail for other first and second class mail and we have no current plans to change any of these arrangements.

Russia

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on the level of UK trade with Russia.

Ian Pearson: Bilateral trade with Russia rose to over 7 billion last year. UK exports to Russia rose to 1.9 billion and UK imports from Russia to 5.2 billion in a wide range of sectors a year on year increase of 27 per cent. for exports and 47 per cent. for imports.

Sexual Offences

Ben Chapman: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Trade and Industry how many cases of sexual harassment were brought in which the defendant was subsequently acquitted of all charges in England and Wales, in the last year for which figures are available, broken down by (a) criminal justice area and (b) region.

Gerry Sutcliffe: In 200405 a total of 777 sex discrimination cases were dismissed at a hearing by an Employment Tribunal. The Employment Tribunals Service does not record which of these cases specifically relate to sexual harassment.

Single European Currency

Alan Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate he has made of the costs to his Department of the introduction of the euro.

Alan Johnson: There is no current estimate of the cost to DTI of an introduction of the euro.
	A high-level, and partial, estimate of the cost for head office, agencies and the executive non-departmental public bodies if the euro were to be introduced into the UK, made in November 2004, was 5.4 million. It is difficult to arrive at a more accurate and current estimate as that would depend very much on the timing and approach taken. In particular, we expect more IT systems to be euro compatible as a result of ongoing modernisation programmes, which would reduce the costs of any euro changeover.

Social Exclusion

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much was allocated to tackling social exclusion by his Department in 200607; and from which budgets.

Alan Johnson: A large number of DTI's activities have a contribution to make in tackling social exclusion, but neither DTI's objectives nor its spending programmes are constructed in a way which distinguishes this element from the other outcomes which its public services agreements are intended to achieve.

Television Sets

Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many television sets are in operation in the Department (a) in total, (b) in Ministers' private offices and (c) in each building in the Department; and how many television licences are held by the Department.

Alan Johnson: The Department does not keep a central record of televisions in use in its buildings but there is one in each Ministers' office and approximately a further 30 in our main HQ building at 1 Victoria Street including those for training purposes using video input. All televisions in DTI buildings are used in connection with official business and are therefore not subject to licensing.

Wind Farms

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many wind farms there are in England; and how many are planned to be built in the next four years.

Malcolm Wicks: The following table gives an overview of the number of wind farms in England that are either operational, currently under construction, consented, or in the planning stage. However, not all wind farms are likely to get planning permission or be built.
	
		
			 Status Number of onshore wind farms Number of offshore wind farms Total number of wind farms Total capacity (MW) 
		
		
			 Operational 49 3 52 365 
			 Currently under construction 8 1 9 201.5 
			 Consented 34 5 39 988 
			 Planning 43 6 49 3,541 
		
	
	Source:
	The British Wind Energy Association website: www.bwea.org

WALES

Council Tax

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales pursuant to the Answer to the hon. Member for Meriden (Mrs. Spelman), of 6 February 2006, Official Report, column 895W, on council tax, how many photographs of domestic properties were taken by the Valuation Office Agency during the council tax revaluation in Wales.

Peter Hain: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 9 March 2006, Official Report, column 1640W.

Council Tax

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales pursuant to his Answer of 9 March 2006, Official Report, column 1640W, on council tax, whether the Valuation Office Agency took photographs of domestic properties for the council tax revaluation in Wales.

Peter Hain: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer my hon. Friend gave to the hon. Member for Meriden (Mrs. Spelman), on 6 February 2006, Official Report, column 894W.

Police Restructuring

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will place in the Library his letter to the Home Office on the proposed police reorganisation in Wales.

Peter Hain: I have today placed in the Library a copy of my letter of 12 December on the proposed police reorganisation in Wales.

Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what proportion of members of the principal civil service pension scheme in his Department joined the scheme before the age of (a) 20, (b) 25, (c) 30, (d) 35, (e) 40, (f) 45 and (g) over 45 years old.

Peter Hain: Wales Office staff come from other Government Departments and bodies (including the National Assembly for Wales and the Department for Constitutional Affairs). Pensions information is held by the home Department, and is not held by the Wales Office.
	Gathering this information for Wales Office staff could only be done at disproportionate cost.

DEFENCE

Afghanistan

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the number of illegally armed groups in Afghanistan.

Adam Ingram: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office on 7 February 2006, Official Report, column 1042, to the right hon. Member for Devizes (Mr. Michael Ancram).

Afghanistan

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the source of Taliban (a) funding and (b) weaponry.

John Reid: The Taliban primarily obtain funding from within Afghanistan and Pakistan, supplemented to a lesser degree from sources elsewhere. We believe that the Taliban also indirectly benefit from the narcotics trade in Afghanistan. Most Taliban weaponry is sourced from within Afghanistan or comes from or comes through or from sources within Pakistan.

Afghanistan

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the procedural requirements are for the transfer of a prisoner detained by UK forces in Afghanistan to the Afghan authorities.

Adam Ingram: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Devizes (Mr. Ancram) on the 20 and 24 January 2006, Official Report, column 1648 W and 1982W respectively and the hon. Member for Woodspring (Dr. Fox) on 30 January 2006, Official Report, column 38W.

Afghanistan

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps are being taken by the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan to achieve a secure operating environment for non-governmental organisations.

Adam Ingram: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave the hon. Member for the Forest of Dean (Mr. Harper) on 27 February 2006, Official Report, column 3W. Further information on the role of provisional reconstruction teams which covers the contribution of other members of ISAF is available on the ISAF website at:
	http://www.afhorth.nato.int/ISAF/Backgrounders/BackPRT.htm

C130 Aircraft

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the circumstances were of each incident of C130 aircraft being hit by hostile fire in each of the last three years; and if he will make a statement.

Adam Ingram: There were no incidents of RAF C130 aircraft being hit by hostile fire in 2003.
	In 2004 there were three incidents of RAF C130 aircraft being hit by hostile fire.
	On 11 April 2004, a C130K aircraft travelled en route from Baghdad International airport to Balad. On inspection of the aircraft at Balad, it was found that a projectile had hit the upper fuselage. The aircraft was deemed serviceable and was able to continue its mission.
	On 1 May 2004, an inspection of a C130K aircraft at Baghdad International airport revealed evidence of a small single ballistic impact on the aircraft's front quarter. The damage was repaired and the aircraft was able to continue its mission.
	On 6 August 2004, a C130 was en route to Baghdad International airport, when a fuel leak was discovered in one of the wing fuel tanks. The aircraft was able to continue to its destination. On arrival, it was found that the wing fuel tank had been ruptured by a small calibre round.
	In January 2005, C130 Hercules XV179 was hit by hostile fire, which resulted in the tragic loss of the aircraft, its crew and passengers. This incident was investigated by a RAF Board of Inquiry and the Air Accident Investigation Branch, as outlined in my right hon. Friend's statement of 8 December 2005, Official Report, column 1009.
	There have been no reported incidents in which C130 Hercules aircraft have been hit by hostile fire since the loss of XV179.

Cadet Corps (Rifles)

David Borrow: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  what discussions he has had with cadet organisations concerning rifle (a) stocks and (b) replacements; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what plans are in place to replace (a) obsolete and (b) unusable rifles used by cadet organisations in the UK; and what the timetable is for rifle replacement for cadets.

Adam Ingram: There have been no discussions with the cadet organisations about rifle stocks and replacements. There are currently sufficient stocks of all types of cadet rifles. Future options, including replacement and extending the life of the. current weapons, will be considered as part of the Department's normal planning process.

Civil Contingency Reaction Force

Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many personnel from each of the 14 Territorial Army infantry regiments are signed up for Civil Contingency Reaction Force duties.

Don Touhig: This information is not held centrally and can be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Contractors

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what criteria he uses to decide whether potential contractors are a bad financial risk.

Adam Ingram: It is not the Ministry of Defence's practice to place a contract with a supplier if there are reasonable doubts about that supplier's ability to meet its contractual obligations.
	The policy guidance currently available to MOD commercial officers when assessing a potential supplier's financial status is in the public domain and can be found on the MOD's Acquisition Management website at: www.ams.mod.uk under the Commercial Managers Toolkit (CMT)/Guidance/Topic Guidance/A-ZTopics(from drop down menu)/Company Financial Status, particularly paragraphs 33 to 46 headed Financial Capability Assessment.

Deployments

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many British troops are deployed in (a) Iraq and (b) Afghanistan.

Adam Ingram: As of 28 March there are around 8,000 United Kingdom forces deployed in Iraq. The UK currently has approximately 2,400 service personnel in Afghanistan both as part of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) mission and the International Coalition. This figure includes personnel deployed as part of the commitment of forces to Southern Afghanistan that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State announced on 26 January.

Far East Prisoners of War

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many claims for the Far East Prisoner of War ex gratia payment have been paid to claimants who were interned in Red Cross and Church Homes.

Don Touhig: We do not have figures for the total number of claimants who may have been paid in these categories, in particular because place of internment was not investigated for this who qualified on the basis of lists of those who had been eligible either individually or as the child of a head of family, under the 1950s scheme based on liquidated Japanese Assets. The information held is as follows:
	Five ex gratia payments have been made to Civilian Internees who had been in an International Red Cross Home (Rosary Hill).
	One ex gratia payment was made to a Civilian Internee who had been in a convent.
	One ex gratia payments was made to a Civilian Internee who had been in a mission compound.
	These payments were made in error, mostly during the early stages of the scheme before it was decided that these locations should not qualify as internment.

First World War (Pardons)

Andrew MacKinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 27 March 2006, reference 60973, how many (a) letters, (b) emails and (c) petitions he has received in each year since 1992 which support the argument that posthumous pardons should not be granted to those soldiers executed in the First World War; and how many signatures were on each petition.

Don Touhig: This information is not held in the format requested. The figures relating to the numbers of the communications received since 1992 on the subject of pardons for the soldiers executed during the First World War and to the views expressed have not been collated. It is understood that some of the earlier correspondence may not have been retained and the cost of the work required to compile the information requested would in any event be disproportionate. I can, however, say that the communications opposing posthumous pardons represent a small proportion of the total.

Iraq

Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether there was British (a) military and (b) civilian involvement in the initial incident involving two vehicles in Basra on 6 March 2006; and whether British troops discharged their weapons in the aftermath of the incident.

Adam Ingram: holding answer 13 March 2006
	There was no UK military or civilian involvement in the initial incident. UK military responded, during which they came under fire and fired six shots in reply. As far as we are aware no one was injured as a result.

Iraq

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many UK reservists, and from which regiments, will be serving in Iraq in May in 2006.

Don Touhig: I refer the hon. Member to the written statement made by my right hon. Friend the Defence Secretary, 6 December 2005, Official Report, column 856W about the number of reservists that we plan to deploy to Iraq. On current plans, RAF and Army reservists will be called from the following regiments, arms and branches:
	603, 2620, and 2622 Force Protection Squadrons(RAuxAF).
	Medic (612 Sqn)(RAuxAF).
	Movements4624 Sqn(RAuxAF).
	Mobile (Meteorological) Unit (RAF Sponsored Reserves).
	33 Sqn aircrew (RAuxAF).
	51 Highland Regiment.
	52 Lowland Regiment.
	Royal Yeomanry.
	Royal Mercian Lancastrian Yeomanry.
	West Midlands Regiment.
	4 Parachute Regiment.
	East of England Regiment.
	Kings Cheshire Regiment.
	Lancastrian, Cumbrian Volunteers.
	London Regiment.
	Rifle Volunteers.
	Tyne Tees Regiment.
	East and West Riding Regiment.
	3 Princess of Wales Royal Regiment.
	Royal Artillery.
	The Honourable Artillery Company.
	Royal Engineers.
	Royal Signals.
	Royal Logistics Corps.
	Royal Army Medical Corps.
	Queen Alexandra Royal Army Nursing Corps.
	Adjutant General Corps.
	Adjutant General Corps (Royal Military Police).
	Joint Civilian Military Corporation Group.
	Royal Electrical Mechanical Engineers.
	3 Military Intelligence Battalion.

Iraq

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what strategy is in place in Iraq to achieve the disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration on non-state militia (a) nationally and (b) in multi-national sector (south-east).

John Reid: With our coalition partners we continue to press the Iraqi authorities, both at a national and provincial level, to recognise and take action on the issue of militias. The new Iraqi constitution continues the broad policy reflected in the Coalition Provisional Authority Order 91 which set out to integrate individuals, rather than formed militia units, into the Iraqi Security Forces.
	Once a new Government is in place, we will strongly encourage it to enact further legislation to control and, ultimately, disband these groups. The development of professional and politically neutral Iraqi Security Forces will be key for the Iraqi Government to have a monopoly on the use of force.
	The strategy in multi-national division (south-east) is in line with the national approach and at the local level we are engaged with the provincial chiefs of police in order to make progress on the militia issues.

Iraq

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the number of security contractors employed by private military companies in Iraq.

John Reid: The Ministry of Defence does not contract any private military companies or private security companies in Iraq, and we do not monitor the numbers employed by third parties.

Iraq

Robert Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the estimated cost was of (a) deploying and (b) recovering troops and equipment to and from (i) Iraq and (ii) Kuwait between April 2003 and December 2005.

Adam Ingram: Operational costs directly relating to the deployment and recovery of troops and equipment from Kuwait and Iraq were subsumed within the overall operation in Iraq. The annual audited figures for the costs of operations in Iraq for the financial year 200304 were 1,311 million and 200405 910 million.
	Estimated annual costs for operations in Iraq of 1,098 million in 200506 were included in spring supplementary estimates published in February. Final figures will be published in the Ministry of Defence's annual report and accounts for 200506 following audit by the National Audit Office.

Iraq

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the replacement costs of military equipment damaged and destroyed in Iraq since the start of the war (a) in total and (b) for (i) tanks and other armoured vehicles, (ii) aircraft and (iii) helicopters; and whether these costs are included in the net additional costs of operations in Iraq.

Adam Ingram: The cost of replacing military equipment damaged and destroyed in Iraq is estimated at around 100 million, including 40 million for aircraft and 28 million for helicopters. We do not currently plan to replace any tanks or armoured vehicles as we assess their fleet sizes are sufficient to meet planned out of service dates. These figures are included in annual estimates of the net additional cost of the operation as they are incurred.

Joint Strike Fighter

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  what discussions have taken place between his Department and the United States Administration on the transfer of stealth technology in relation to the Joint Strike Fighter;
	(2)  whether his Department has discussed with the US Administration the possible cancellation of the second engine for the Joint Strike Fighter.

Adam Ingram: Regular discussions take place at all levels with the US Administration on all aspects of the joint strike fighter programme. The Minister for Defence Procurement, Lord Drayson, addressed the Senate Armed Services Committee on these issues on 14 March and discussed the programme with the Department of Defense.

Joint Strike Fighter

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what discussions have taken place with other European Union governments regarding the appointment of a single official to represent the European Union in negotiations with the United States Administration on the Joint Strike Fighter.

Adam Ingram: None.

Missile Defence Systems

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the (a) strategic, (b) cost and (c) legal implications of stationing US interceptor missiles in the UK;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of the (a) viability and (b) merits of UK participation in a ballistic missile defence system.

John Reid: No decisions have yet been taken on whether or not to acquire ballistic missile defence for the United Kingdom. Work by officials continues to examine potential options for future UK participation in a missile defence system, including the strategic, cost and legal issues arising. UK officials are also working with their NATO counterparts to consider the implications of a recently completed NATO Feasibility Study into options for Alliance missile defence. No terms for basing interceptors in Europe have been proposed, so it is premature to speculate on the range of options that might be available, or on the viability and desirability for the UK of further participation.

Missile Defence Systems

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what discussions (a) he and (b) his officials have had with NATO allies on the basing of US interceptor missiles in European states.

John Reid: NATO is currently examining the results of a feasibility study into ballistic missile defence for Alliance territories and population centres, and United Kingdom officials are engaged in that work. Ministers have not at this stage discussed the implications of this feasibility study. Potential options for a NATO missile defence system include the provision of assets (such as interceptors) by nations, but no concrete proposals by individual nations are yet under consideration.

Nuclear Deterrent

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what structures exist within Government to provide a framework for formulation of policy on the future of the UK's nuclear deterrent.

John Reid: Work is under way by officials in a number of Departments to prepare the material which will be needed to support decisions on the future of the United Kingdom's nuclear deterrent. Ministers have not yet begun to consider the position in any detail.

RAF Aircrew

Mark Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what incentive schemes are used to retain aircrew in the RAF.

Don Touhig: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 3 March 2006, Official Report, column 1002W, on incentive schemes for pilots.
	The single targeted taxable financial retention incentive referred to in my previous answer is currently also payable to Fast Jet Weapons System Officers. A similar incentive is payable to Non-Commissioned Aircrew, following 17 years service for a guaranteed five year return of service. This scheme ends on 31 March 2006.
	There is also a Professional Aviator Pay Scale for selected Weapons System Officers and a similar scheme is available to Non-Commissioned Aircrew.

Rafale Aircraft

Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the Answer to the right hon. Member for Fylde (Mr. Jack), of 6 March 2006, Official Report, column 1192W, on Rafale aircraft, whether he has ruled out consideration of an option to purchase the Rafale aircraft for the two new aircraft carriers.

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what contingency plans are in place in relation to the possible withdrawal of the UK from the Joint Strike Fighter project.

Adam Ingram: Following Lord Drayson's discussions in Washington earlier this month about Joint Strike Fighter programme, we remain optimistic that we will achieve the appropriate operational sovereignty that we require to proceed with the next phase of the programme. However, the necessary actions have been and will continue to be undertaken to ensure we have the necessary contingency plans. We do not discuss the nature of our contingency plans.

Royal Ordnance Establishments (Chemical Licences)

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether long-term contracts have been signed for the supply of (a) high explosives, (b) Boxer caps, (c) initiators and (d) other products made at (i) Royal Ordnance Chorley and (ii) Royal Ordnance Bridgwater; and what guarantee of security and supply is required in such cases.

Adam Ingram: The supply of general munitions to the Ministry of Defence is covered by a Framework Partnering Agreement with BAES Land Systems. Under the terms of this agreement, which will remain in force until 2010, the company are responsible for maintaining security of supply.
	Boxer Caps are currently produced and supplied through BAES Land Systems contracts with ATK and RUAG. Under restructuring arrangements currently being implemented, the supply of other items produced at the Bridgwater and Chorley sites will either transfer to BAES Land Systems' Glascoed facility, or they will be outsourced. Negotiations between BAES Land Systems and potential alternative suppliers are ongoing.

Superannuation Liability

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what total amount of employers' normal contributions accruing superannuation liability charge has been accounted for by his Department in each of the last five years for which data are available.

Don Touhig: Employers' contributions in respect of Accruing Superannuation Liability Charges (ASLC) are disclosed as Pension Costs in Note 2 to the Department's published Annual Report and Accounts, copies of which have been placed in the Library of the House. The table lists the ASLC accounted for in the last five years:
	
		Employers' accruing superannuation liability charge
		
			 Financial year  million 
		
		
			 200001 1,255.9 
			 200102 1,305.1 
			 200203 1,357.7 
			 200304 1,442.7 
			 200405 1,486.8 
		
	
	The majority of contributions for civilian staff are paid to the principal civil service pension scheme, with a small contribution payable to the teachers' superannuation scheme and NHS superannuation scheme. Contributions for military personnel are paid to armed forces pension scheme.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Diamond Jubilee

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what plans are in place to celebrate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee in 2012.

David Lammy: Currently, there are no plans to celebrate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee in 2012.

Princess Diana Memorial Fountain

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to the answer of 15 February 2006, Official Report, column 2090W, on the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain, how much has been spent by (a) her Department and (b) public bodies for which it is responsible on (i) security, (ii) cleaning, (iii) repair, (iv) refurbishment and (v) other costs in relation to the fountain in each of the last 12 months; and if she will make a statement.

Tessa Jowell: Details of expenditure by The Royal Parks, an Executive Agency of DCMS are shown in the table. The costs of security, cleaning and repair are met by The Royal Parks from their operational budget. The expenditure on refurbishment was partially funded by a contribution from DCMS of 150,000 in 200405 and 150,000 in 200506. It is not possible to show DCMS' expenditure monthly.
	Security and cleaning services are provided by the same contractor and cannot be separated. Other costs include utilities, landscape maintenance, fencing and consultancy fees:
	
		
		
			  Security and cleaning Repair Refurbishment Other costs 
		
		
			 2005 
			 March 0 0 169,822 3,300 
			 April 0 0 339,884 953 
			 May 12,119 0 15,910 3,441 
			 June 9,055 0 116,590 6,524 
			 July 10,554 0 3,244 11,866 
			 August 12,485 0 505 8,208 
			 September 9,191 0 2,229 4,894 
			 October 9,955 0 28,007 4,568 
			 November 5,345 0 0 16,788 
			 December 4,295 0 964 175,696 
			 2006 
			 January 6,780 0 0 2,529 
			 February 4,385 0 0 4,944

Queen's Birthday

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what events are planned to celebrate the 80th birthday of Her Majesty the Queen.

David Lammy: DCMS is not organising any special events for the 80th Birthday of Her Majesty the Queen. As usual, DCMS will arrange for Union flags to be flown in the Mall for Trooping of the Colour (Queen's Birthday Parade) which marks the Queen's official birthday.

Union Flag

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will take steps to enable the Union flag to be flown on public buildings owned by local authorities on any day of the year.

David Lammy: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport is responsible for issuing the rules for hoisting the Union flag on Government buildings. While there is no formal definition of a Government building for this purpose, it is generally accepted to mean a building owned or used by the Crown and predominately occupied or used by civil servants or Her Majesty's armed forces. Individuals, local authorities and other organisations may fly the Union flag whenever they wish, subject to compliance with any local planning requirement. The national flag of any country, and this includes the Union flag, is exempt from advertisement control provided each flag is flown from a single vertical flagstaff and neither the flag nor the flagstaff display any advertisement additional to the design of the flag.

LEADER OF THE HOUSE

Royal Assent

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Leader of the House to how many Acts of Parliament the Queen has given Royal Assent in each of the last eight years.

Geoff Hoon: The information requested has been sourced from the Office of Public Sector Information website www.opsi.gov.uk, for all Acts of the UK Parliament.
	The totals include local Acts, the figures for which are given in brackets.
	
		
			  Total 
		
		
			 2005 24 (0) 
			 2004 44 (6) 
			 2003 50 (5) 
			 2002 50 (6) 
			 2001 29 (5) 
			 2000 53 (8) 
			 1999 39 (4) 
			 1998 54 (5)

Television Sets

Jo Swinson: To ask the Leader of the House how many television sets are in operation in his Office (a) in total, (b) in Ministers' private offices and (c) in each building used by his Office; and how many television licences are held by his Office.

Nigel Griffiths: The Office of the Leader of the House of Commons has a total of nine television sets in its accommodation at 2 Carlton Gardens.
	It comes within the administrative responsibility of the Privy Council Office, which holds one television license for the building.

PRIME MINISTER

Alistair Campbell/Peter Mandelson

Norman Baker: To ask the Prime Minister when he last invited (a) Mr. Alistair Campbell and (b) Mr. Peter Mandelson to visit 10 Downing Street in connection with his duties.

Tony Blair: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for New Forest, East (Dr. Lewis) on 20 December 2004, Official Report, column 1353W, and to the answer I gave my hon. Friend the Member for Stroud (Mr. Drew) on 24 January 2005, Official Report, columns 9394W.

Security Material (Access)

Norman Baker: To ask the Prime Minister if he will extend the remit of the Intelligence and Security Committee to provide for access to the Defence Intelligence staff and material produced by it on the same basis as access to MI5, MI6 and GCHQ.

Tony Blair: The Defence Intelligence Staff (DIS) is an integral part of the MOD and formal oversight of it therefore falls to the House of Commons Defence Committee (HCDC). However, the Government have recognised that, in order to fulfil its statutory remit of oversight of the expenditure, policy and administration of the intelligence Agencies, the Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) needs to take evidence more widely than from the Agencies themselves. The DIS therefore already assists the ISC wherever it can in respect of work under the control of the Chief of Defence Intelligence and of relevance to the ISC, The Secretary of State for Defence wrote to the Chairman of the HCDC on 11 November 2005 reaffirming this position.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Asylum Seekers

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the latest Quarterly Bulletin of Statistics, if he will break down by nationality the 16,870 applicants granted indefinite leave to remain (ILR) under the Government's family ILR exercise of 24 October 2003.

Tony McNulty: The top 25 nationalities of principal applicants are presented in the table. This information is based on internal management information and as such is not published within the official statistics.
	
		
			  Total 
		
		
			 Federal Republic of Yugoslavia 1,530 
			 Kosovo 1,495 
			 Sri Lanka 1,235 
			 Turkey 1,220 
			 Pakistan 805 
			 Congo Democratic Republic 625 
			 Nigeria 560 
			 Colombia 535 
			 Ecuador 530 
			 Poland 480 
			 Kenya 450 
			 Somalia 400 
			 Afghanistan 360 
			 Iran 355 
			 Lithuania 315 
			 Croatia 310 
			 Ghana 290 
			 Albania 285 
			 Uganda 245 
			 China (Peoples Republic of China) 235 
			 Sierra Leone 225 
			 Angola 220 
			 Czech Republic 215 
			 India 215 
			 Ukraine 190 
			 Others 3,545 
		
	
	Note:
	Totals rounded to nearest 5

Asylum Seekers

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many failed asylum seekers have received Section 4 hard cases support for a period of over (a) one month, (b) three months, (c) six months, (d) nine months and (e) 12 months in the last five years.

Tony McNulty: It is not possible to provide the figures for the last five years however we do have figures for those currently supported. The figures below set out the periods for those on support as at the end of February 2006. This is management information and is therefore subject to change.
	
		
			  Number Percentage 
		
		
			 Total supported 5,130  
			
			 Under 90 days 1,234 24 
			 91 to 180 days 718 14 
			 181 to 270 days 878 17 
			 271 to 360 days 876 17 
			 360+ days 1,424 28

Child Trafficking

Anthony Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the number of children smuggled into the UK in each of the last five years from (a) EU countries and (b) the rest of the world; and if he will make a statement.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 9 November 2005
	The Home Office does not hold centrally, figures relating to the numbers of children smuggled into the UK.

Correspondence

Clare Short: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will reply to the letter from the right hon. Member for Birmingham, Ladywood dated 11 January 2006 (acknowledgement ref. M1059/6) on behalf of Mohammed Khalid Ahsen.

Tony McNulty: My hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Andy Burnham), wrote to my right hon. Friend on 17 March and regrets that he was unable to reply earlier.

Correspondence

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the Immigration and Nationality Directorate will reply to the letter of 17 January from the right hon. Member for Warley on behalf of Mrs. Bishop of Oldby.

Tony McNulty: The Immigration and Nationality Directorate wrote to my right hon. Friend on 24 March.

Prisoners

David Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners released on licence in each of the past five years were subsequently recalled to prison (a) before their Licence Expiry Date (LED) and (b) after their LED but before their sentence expiry date due to (i) firearms offences, (ii) drugs offences, (iii) violent crime, (iv) theft and burglary and (v) other crimes.

Fiona Mactaggart: The information requested is not available without incurring disproportionate cost.

Prisoners

David Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners refused parole and released on their non parole release date in each of the past five years were subsequently (a) recalled to prison before their sentence expiry date and (b) reconvicted after their sentence expiry date for (i) firearms offences, (ii) drugs offences, (iii) violent crimes, (iv) theft and burglary and (v) other offences.

Fiona Mactaggart: Table 10.8 of the Offender Management Caseload Statistics 2004, a copy of which is in the Library of the House, shows the number of recalls of determinate sentence prisoners serving sentences of four years or more. To break the figure down further in respect of offence type would incur disproportionate costs. Reconvictions of offenders after their sentence expiry date are not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Prisoners

David Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners released on licence subsequently breached (a) one and (b) more than one condition of their licence but were not recalled to prison in each of the past five years.

Fiona Mactaggart: The information requested is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Prisoners

David Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners released on licence were subsequently recalled to prison (a) before their non-parole release date (NPD) and (b) after their NPD but before their licence expiry date in each of the last five years.

Fiona Mactaggart: The information requested is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Prisoners

David Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners released on parole were subsequently recalled to prison after their licence expiry date but before their sentence expiry date in each of the last five years.

Fiona Mactaggart: There are no offenders released on parole who are subsequently recalled after their Licence Expiry Date. Prisoners sentenced to four years or more under the provisions of the Criminal Justice Act 1991 become eligible to be considered for parole at the half-way point of the sentence. If not released on parole, prisoners are released at the two thirds point of the sentence, on supervision licence to the three quarter point of the sentence, the Licence Expiry Date.
	During the period between release and Licence Expiry Date, all offenders are subject to licensed supervision, and may be recalled if they breach the conditions of the licence, or re-offend. At the Licence Expiry Date, the offender is no longer under licensed supervision, but begins the 'at risk' period which lasts until the Sentence Expiry Date. If the offender commits further offences during this period, the court dealing with the new offences, may impose all or part of the outstanding period of the original sentence, to be served with any further sentence given for the new offences.
	The Criminal Justice Act 2003 replaced these arrangements. Prisoners sentenced to the standard determinate sentence for offences committed on or after five April 2005 will be released at the half way point of their sentence and remain on licensed supervision for the whole of the remainder of the sentence. Special arrangement apply in respect of those made subject to public protection sentences.

Prisoners

David Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners have been recalled to prison in each of the last five years before their sentence expiry date due to (a) firearms offences, (b) drug offences, (c) theft and burglary, (d) vandalism, (e) violent crime and (f) other offences.

Fiona Mactaggart: The information requested is not available without incurring disproportionate costs.

Prisons

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of expenditure on physical education in prisons was spent on (a) inmates and (b) staff in the last period for which figures are available.

Fiona Mactaggart: In 200405, 60 million was spent on physical education (PE). It is not possible to separate the expenditure on PE between prisoners or staff as staff costs relate directly to the provision of PE to prisoners. 50 per cent. of expenditure was on staff costs. This information is not collected centrally for prisons managed by contracted prisons and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Reconviction Rates

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the rates of reconviction were after (a) home detention curfew and (b) imprisonment in the latest period for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement.

Fiona Mactaggart: Offenders are monitored while on the home detention curfew scheme but information on reconviction after home detention curfew has ended is not routinely collected. Information on reconviction rates following imprisonment are published on an annual basis by the Home Office. The most recent data were published in Appendix A (in particular, table A5) of Reoffending by adults: results from the 2002 cohort (HO Online Report 25/05) an online copy of which can be found at:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs05/hosb2505.pdf

Sex Offenders

David Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many sex offenders recalled to prison prior to their sentence expiry date were (a) under and (b) not under additional supervision in each of the past five years.

Fiona Mactaggart: The table gives details of offenders recalled before the licence expiry date, broken down by those who were not, and those who were, subject to additional supervision in the form of an extended sentence.
	
		Number of prisoners released on parole who were subsequently recalled by year of release on parole
		
			  200001 200102 200203 200304 200405 
		
		
			 All sexual offences 18 22 23 27 19 
			 Of which serving an extended sentence 3 2 2 3 2

Terrorism

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent assessment he has made of the co-operation between Islamic terrorist groupings and other terrorist organisations around the world.

Charles Clarke: It is the policy of successive Governments not to comment on intelligence assessments.

Terrorism

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the modalities are for hon. Members to submit evidence to Lord Carlisle for his review of the definition of terrorism; and if he will make a statement.

Charles Clarke: holding answer 20 March 2006
	Submissions can be made to Lord Carlisle at his chambers: 912 Bell Yard, London WC2A 2JR. We encourage any contribution to the debate of this important matter.

Voice Verification

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the use of voice verification for the tracking of offenders.

Fiona Mactaggart: Voice verification is used to monitor compliance with requirements to attend a specified programme or to be present at a particular address at specified times. The offender is prompted to telephone a monitoring centre at random intervals, and voice recognition technology is used to confirm his or her identity. At the end of February 2006, a total of 123 people were subject to voice verification at various stages of the criminal justice process.

Women's Refuges

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the number of refuge places available for women in South Wales in (a) each year from 1995 to 2005 and (b) the next five years; and if he will make a statement.

Peter Hain: I have been asked to reply.
	The responsibility in this instance rests with the Welsh Assembly Government. They do not maintain central records of the number of refuge places.
	The Assembly Government are committed to tackling the problems faced by women in society, in particular domestic abuse. In March 2005, in partnership with a number of agencies and organisations, they published Tackling Domestic Abuse: The All Wales National Strategy which sets out their approach to tackling domestic abuse, including the provision of refuges.

CABINET OFFICE

E-enabled Public Services

Oliver Heald: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster which public services are not 'e-enabled'.

Jim Murphy: 96 per cent. of all services are e-enabled.
	Departments have informed the Cabinet Office that the public services listed have not yet been e-enabled.
	Department of Constitutional AffairsPossession Claims.
	Environment AgencyLive Fish Movements Licence; Waste Management Licence; Discharge Consent Licence; Abstraction licence; Waste Carrier Register.
	Department of Environment Food and Rural AffairsFish Quota Allocations; Fishing Vessel Licences; Catch Logs; CITES Schedule 4 birds licences.
	Department for TransportBus Operators Grant.
	Department of HealthMy Healthspace (due late 2007).
	Department for Trade and IndustryEnergy Group Online Services; Services to Insolvency Practitioners; Redundancy payments.
	Home OfficeCriminal Records Bureau; Prison Visits; Office of National StatisticsRegistration of Births, Deaths and Marriages.

EDUCATION AND SKILLS

Child Protection

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what categories of information were included in the file on Paul Reeve read by the Minister in reaching his decision on the list 99 determination.

Ruth Kelly: The Department is unable to comment on individual cases. Where to do so would involve a breach of data protection principles concerning sensitive personal data, which state that personal data should be handled fairly and lawfully, and should not be disclosed unless certain specified conditions are met.
	In general, decisions on whether to include an individual on list 99 are taken following consideration of information from a number of sources. These may include the police, the individual, social services, local education authorities, schools and medical experts. This list is not exhaustive and representations may be sought from other sources appropriate to the circumstances.

Child Protection

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether anyone listed on (a) the Register of Sex Offenders and (b) List 99 is employed by the Government or any Government agency in working with children in (i) social services and (ii) social care.

Ruth Kelly: The Department does not hold the information requested.
	It is a criminal offence for a person who is disqualified from working with children under the Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000 to apply for, offer to do, accept, or do any of the work with children set out in the Act. It is also an offence for an employer knowingly to offer, or fail to remove, a disqualified individual from such a position.
	People who are included on List 99 on the grounds of being unsuitable to work with children, and those who are included permanently on the Protection of Children Act List, are automatically disqualified from working with children under the 2000 Act.
	There is a duty on child care organisations (ie organisations concerned with the provision of social or health care services to children) to check that any prospective employees who they intend to employ in child care position are not included on the Protection of Children Act List or List 99. If they are, the organisation must not offer employment to that person.

Criminal Records Bureau

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what advice she has given to employers in regulated child care settings on criminal records bureau checks for their employees.

Ruth Kelly: In October 2005 changes to the law and relevant national standards clarified that regulated child care employers are legally responsible for determining the suitability of their staff to care for and be in contact with children. Employment checks to determine the suitability of such persons must include a Criminal Records Bureau disclosure. In September 2005 Ofsted issued all day care providers with copies of an addendum containing the revisions to the national standards documentation; a letter from the Department indicating how they could access subsidised Criminal Records Bureau checks for new employees, and additional guidance which included advice on the importance of such checks. Ofsted will shortly be writing out to day care providers again with further advice on their obligations in this area.

Criminal Records Bureau Checks

Howard Stoate: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether schools are to be required by her Department to undertake Criminal Records Bureau checks on all newly appointed (a) school governors and (b) other non-salaried individuals involved in schools.

Ruth Kelly: My Department's guidance 'Child Protection: Preventing Unsuitable People from Working with Children in the Education Service' (issued May 2002) sets out arrangements for both salaried and non-salaried staff and volunteers in schools. As I have already announced, Criminal Records Bureau checks will become compulsory for all newly appointed members of the schools work force.
	The proposed vetting and barring scheme will extend further the requirement for mandatory checks. It will become an offence if a check is not made of a governor's, or other regular volunteer's, barred status before they are appointed.

Departmental Policies

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will set out, with statistical information relating as directly as possible to Islington South and Finsbury constituency, the effects on Islington South and Finsbury of her Department's policies and actions since 2 May 1997.

Phil Hope: The Islington South and Finsbury constituency lies within Islington local authority. The most recent key stage 2 and GCSE and equivalent results showing information for pupils attending schools in Islington South and Finsbury are given in the following tables:
	
		Key stage 2 results of 11-year-old pupils attending schools in the Islington South and Finsbury constituency
		
			 Percentage of pupils gaining level 4 and above 1997 2005 Percentage point improvement 1997 to 2005 
		
		
			 Islington South and Finsbury English(12) 57 74 17 
			 Islington South and Finsbury maths(1) 55 66 11 
			 Islington Local Authority English 56 74 18 
			 Islington Local Authority maths 57 68 11 
			 National AverageEnglish(13) 63 79 16 
			 National Averagemaths(13) 62 75 13 
		
	
	(12) Parliamentary constituency figures are based only on all maintained schools (including city technology colleges and, from 2003, academies) and from 2000 onwards have been adjusted in respect of pupils recently arrived from overseas.
	(13) England figures are based on all schools and have not been adjusted in respect of pupils recently arrived from overseas.
	
		GCSE and equivalents(14)results of 15-year-old pupils(15)attending schools in the Islington South and Finsbury constituency
		
			 Percentage of 15-year-olds gaining 1997 2005 Percentage point improvement 1997 to 2005 
		
		
			 Islington South and  Finsbury5+ A*-C 27.9 40.5 12.6 
			 Islington South and  Finsbury5+ A*-G 73.7 86.7 13.0 
			 Islington Local Authority 5+ A*-C 24.9 44.1 19.2 
			 Islington Local Authority 5+ A*-G 75.0 85.4 10.4 
			 National Average5+ A*-C 45.1 56.3 11.2 
			 National Average5+ A*-G 86.4 89.0 2.6 
		
	
	(14) From 2004 results incorporate GCSEs, GNVQs and a wide range of other qualifications approved pre-16. Prior to 2004 results are based on GCSEs and GNVQs only.
	(15) As standard the results reported relate to pupils aged 15 at the start of the academic year i.e. 31 August and therefore reaching the end of compulsory education at the end of the school year.
	Notes:
	1. Parliamentary constituency figures are based only on all maintained schools (including city technology colleges and, from 2003, academies) and from 2000 onwards have been adjusted in respect of pupils recently arrived from overseas.
	2. England figures are based on all schools and have not been adjusted in respect of pupils recently arrived from overseas.
	At national level, standards have improved across all key stages. The primary and secondary national strategies, together with the measures we have taken to help schools in the toughest areas are continuing to deliver better results.
	Further information by constituency, is provided within the Department's 'In Your Area' website available at http://www.dfes.gov.uk/inyourarea Where information is not available at the constituency level it has been provided at local authority level.
	This website allows users to access key facts and local information about education and skills based on postcodes. The data available within the site offers comparisons between 1997 and the latest available year and covers five geographies. These are parliamentary constituency, ward, local authority district, local authority and Government office region. England figures are also provided.
	The information available within the website is grouped in a number of broad categories including literacy and numeracy at age 11, literacy and numeracy at age 14, GCSE and equivalent results, pupils with special educational needs, school initiatives, school work force, school funding and resources, children's social services, early years, class sizes, post-16, higher education and adult education.
	Additional information could be provided only at disproportionate cost. However, the Department is investigating ways in which we can disseminate more information about the effects of our policies at a local level.

Learn Direct

John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much Learn Direct has spent on sponsoring the Jeremy Kyle show.

Phil Hope: Ufi, the organisation responsible for learndirect, is currently sponsoring a package of programmes on TV. This comprises 12 weeks of 'The Jeremy Kyle Show', on ITV and also 12 weeks of Sunday night drama (three weeks of 'Wild at Heart', six weeks of 'The Royal' and three weeks of 'Heartbeat'. The sponsorship extends to having the learndirect logo and name mentioned at the beginning and end of each programme and during the commercial breaks. These programmes have been chosen because they are watched by the people who Ufi want to reach. The total cost of sponsoring these shows is 425,000 which represents excellent value for the projected number of learners that Ufi expects to respond to the advertising.

List 99

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to paragraph 27 of her document, Review of the List 99 decision making process and policy implications, published on 19 January, if she will list the dates on which the 10 individuals were last working in a school.

Ruth Kelly: The Department does not release information relating to individual cases.

Overseas Trained Teacher Programme

Greg Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment she has made of the adequacy of background checks carried out on teachers placed under the Overseas Trained Teacher Programme; and if she will make a statement.

Ruth Kelly: No specific assessment of the adequacy of background checks on teachers placed under the Overseas Trained Teacher Programme has been made. Overseas trained teachers are employed at the time of joining the programme and therefore it is the responsibility of the employer to carry out checks to ensure they meet the standard requirements.
	Building on the List 99 Review report published on 19 January, I announced (on 1 March) my intention to review current arrangements for overseas teachers, and the options for strengthening the vetting and recruitment checks made on overseas staff. Discussions with the Recruitment and Employment Confederation will continue and wider consultation involving stakeholders and other Governments Departments will ensure that any changes to guidance or regulations are properly considered in line with other sectors of the children's work force.

Protection of Children Act

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what interaction takes place between (a) the Protection of Children Act List, (b) List 99 and (c) the Register of Sex Offenders.

Ruth Kelly: My report and accompanying statement of 19 January sets out measures to strengthen arrangements where there is interaction between the Protection of Children Act List, List 99 and the Register of Sex Offenders. We also brought forward legislation on 1 March which sets out how we will further improve arrangements through the introduction of a new vetting and barring scheme.

HEALTH

Ambulance Services

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) fully equipped ambulances and (b) ambulance personnel there were in Lancashire in each year since 2004.

Liam Byrne: Information on the number of ambulances is not held centrally. The number of national health service ambulance trust staff in Lancashire in 2004 was 924. Data for 2005 is not yet available.

Ambulance Services

John Maples: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many responses were received to the consultation on the proposal to merge ambulance services in the West Midlands; how many of these responses were (a) in favour and (b) against the merger; and which responses in each category were from elected councils.

Liam Byrne: This information is not currently held centrally. Strategic health authorities have been asked to feedback to the Department details of consultation responses received.

Ambulance Services

John Maples: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when it was decided to advertise for the post of directors of the proposed new West Midlands Ambulance Trust; and why the post was advertised before the consultation process on the merger of the ambulance trusts had ended.

Liam Byrne: Since we published the ambulance review last year, we have made it clear that the reorganisation of ambulance trusts is subject to consultation. The adverts for these posts do not pre-empt any decisions that Ministers will make following the end of the consultation process.
	Both the advert and the application pack clearly state that these appointments are dependent on ministerial decisions on ambulance trust configuration.
	This is necessary contingency planning. If a decision is made to change ambulance trust configuration, we would need to be able to move quickly to establish the new organisations in order to minimise uncertainty for staff and for business continuity. This includes having full boards as soon as possible so that decisions can be taken and staff transferred to the new organisations.
	If new organisations are not established, appointments will not be made.

Arthritis

Nadine Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what steps the Government are taking to increase arthritis awareness in the workplace; and if she will make a statement;
	(2)  what representations her Department has received on (a) rheumatoid arthritis and (b) osteo-arthritis in the workplace; and if she will make a statement.

Anne McGuire: These conditions affect many people of working age. Although rheumatoid arthritis is not caused by work, the development of osteoarthritis can be affected by work activity. With effective management and support, most people with osteoarthritis are able to stay in or return to work.
	Osteoarthritis is recognised in the Health and Safety Commission and Executive HSC/E guidance booklet Upper limb disorders in the workplace as one of about 15 kinds of medically diagnosable upper limb disorders. It also affects other parts of the body such as hips and lower limbs. Following HSC/E's recognised ergonomic approach, as set out in the guidance, employers can design jobs and tasks which control the exposure of the workforce to risk factors.
	HSC/E has not had specific representations on rheumatoid or osteoarthritis. However, we have worked closely with ARMA, the Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Alliance, who have recently published Standards of Care for people with Inflammatory Arthritis, with Osteoarthritis and with Back Pain. HSC/E endorses the advice contained in this guidance.

Cancer

John Cummings: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made with the national bowel screening programme in primary care trusts in the county of Durham; and if she will make a statement.

Liam Byrne: NHS cancer screening programmes are currently assessing strategic health authority bids for their local endoscopy units to become local screening centres when the programme begins. Announcements will be made in due course.

Cancer

Andrew Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the global trends in the incidence of cancer since 1997; and if she will make a statement.

John Healey: I have been asked to reply.
	The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from Jill Matheson, dated 30 March 2006
	The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking what assessment has been made of the global trends in incidence of cancer since 1997. I am replying in her absence. (62179)
	Estimates of incidence rates of cancer across the world are published by the International Agency for Research in Cancer (IARC) on their website http://www-dep.iarc.fr/.
	The latest figures are for 2002.

Cancer

Andrew Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the predicted incidence of cancer in 2020 relative to current levels (a) in the UK and (b) internationally; and if she will make a statement.

John Healey: I have been asked to reply.
	The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from Jill Matheson, dated 30 March 2006
	The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking what assessment has been made of the predicted incidence of cancer in 2020 relative to current levels (a) in the UK and (b) internationally. I am replying in her absence. (62180)
	At present, no figures are available centrally on the future incidence of cancer in the UK.
	A project team has been set up with the intention of producing long-term cancer projections up to 2020 for the major cancer sites for England. This is one of several projects conducted by the United Kingdom Association of Cancer Registries (UKACR) Analysis Sub-group on projecting future rates and future numbers of cancer patients. A report will be produced for the Department of Health.
	Projections for Scotland were published in Cancer in Scotland: Sustaining ChangeCancer Incidence Projections for Scotland (20012020) in November 2004. This is available at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/30859/0012657.pdf
	A European workshop on this topic will be held in September 2006.

Cancer

Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  why the NHS colorectal screening programme will not now start on 1 April; when she expects the programme to start; and if she will make a statement;
	(2)  what funding she has made available for the NHS colorectal screening programme; when the funding will start; and if she will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: The Government have stated their commitment to a national bowel cancer screening programme, for which funding has been agreed. On 30 January 2006, the new Health White Paper Our health, our care, our say: a new direction for community services reaffirmed that the programme will be rolled out from April 2006.

Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when she will reply to the letter dated 1 February from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton, with regard to Ms C. Formby.

Liam Byrne: A reply was sent on 16 February 2006.

Dentistry

Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate she has made of the number of visiting dental services that will be affected by the new dental contract in (a) England and (b) London.

Rosie Winterton: Under the arrangements for the delegation of commissioning of national health service primary care dental services to primary care trusts (PCT), which come into effect from 1 April, PCTs will be responsible for commissioning domiciliary and other additional services, taking account of the needs of their populations. It is too early to estimate the number of contracts that PCTs will agree for domiciliary services but, as with the wider reforms to NHS dentistry, our intention is to make these services more responsive to the needs of patients.

Dentistry

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many dentists were available to NHS patients in North Yorkshire on 1 April 2005; and how many she expects to be available on the date on which the new dentist's contract is implemented.

Liam Byrne: As at 31 March 2005, there were 629 national health service dentists with a general dental services (GDS) or personal dental services (PDS) contract within the North and East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire strategic health authority (SHA) area. Data as at 1 April 2005 is not readily available.
	A dentist with a GDS or PDS contract may provide as little or as much NHS treatment as he or she chooses or has agreed with their primary care trust. Information concerning the amount of time dedicated to NHS work by individual GDS or PDS dentists is not centrally available.
	The new dental contract will be introduced on 1 April 2006. Information on the number of NHS dentists signed up to the new contract is therefore not yet available.
	Notes:
	Data includes all notifications of dentists joining or leaving the CDS or PDS, received by the Dental Practice Board, up to 5 July 2005. Figures for the numbers of dentists at specified dates may vary depending upon the notification period, for example, data with a later notification period will include more recent notifications of dentists joining or leaving the CDS or PDS.
	Dentists consist of principals, assistants and trainees. Prison contracts have been excluded. The postcode of the dental practice was used to allocate dentists to specific geographic areas. SNA areas have been defined using the Office for National Statistics all fields postcode directory.
	Data on the number of dentists working only in private practice is not held centrally.

Departmental Staff

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people were employed by (a) the Meat Hygiene Service, (b) the NHS Estates Agency, (c) the NHS Pensions Agency, (d) the National Heath Service Purchasing and Supplies, (e) the Medical and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, (f) the Food Standards Agency and (g) her Department in each region in each of the last 12 months for which information is available; and how many and what percentage of posts were vacant in each region in each month.

Liam Byrne: The information requested is shown in the tables.
	
		
			  Number employed in each region as of January 2006 
		
		
			 January 2006  
			 East Midlands 52 
			 Eastern 15 
			 GOR default value 10 
			 London 1,418 
			 North East 17 
			 North West 27 
			 South East 14 
			 South West 12 
			 West Midlands 16 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside 724 
			 Total 2,306 
		
	
	Notes:
	The following points should be noted:
	1. The Meat Hygiene Service, Food Standards Agency and the NHS Pensions Agency are no longer part of the Department, therefore no data is held on the Department's human resource information systems.
	2. The NHS Estates Agency no longer exists.
	3. Vacancy figures presented in the table are numbers of vacancies for which the Department or agency was actively recruiting.
	4. A breakdown of vacancies by region is not available.
	
		Number of employees and vacancies by organisation are as follows
		
			  February 2005 March 2005 April 2005 May 2005 June 2005 July 2005 
		
		
			 NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency 
			 Employees 310 306 308 307 306 306 
			 Vacancies 30 34 32 33 34 34 
			 Percentage of vacancies 9.7 11 10.4 10.7 11.1 11.0 
			
			 Medical and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency   
			 Employees 780 798 793 799 817 820 
			 Vacancies 37 37 37 37 38 38 
			 Percentage of vacancies 4.7 4.6 4.7 4.6 4.7 4.6 
			
			 Department of Health  
			 Employees 2,085 2,093 2,122 2,135 2,148 2,164 
			 Vacancies 18 11 20 24 20 22 
			 Percentage of vacancies 0.9 0.5 0.9 1.1 0.9 1.0 
		
	
	
		
			  August 2005 September 2005 October 2005 November 2005 December 2005 January 2006 
		
		
			 NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency 
			 Employees 305 313 313 312 315 328 
			 Vacancies 35 27 27 28 25 12 
			 Percentage of vacancies 11.5 8.5 8.6 9.0 7.9 3.7 
			
			 Medical and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency   
			 Employees 823 812 814 825 825 n/a 
			 Vacancies 38 38 37 37 37 n/a 
			 Percentage of vacancies 4.6 4.7 4.5 4.5 4.5 n/a 
			
			 Department of Health  
			 Employees 2,190 2,211 2,268 2,284 2,286 2,306 
			 Vacancies 18 14 16 12 n/a n/a 
			 Percentage of vacancies 0.8 0.6 0.7 0.5 n/a n/a

Food Labelling

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will consider the merits of labelling meat and dairy produce to promote the consumption of omega 3 fats which would distinguish between ruminant animals fed predominantly fresh grass and those fed predominantly grain.

Caroline Flint: Some studies have shown that ruminants fed fresh grass and other forage produce meat and dairy products with slightly higher levels of omega 3 fatty acids. However, these fatty acids differ chemically from the longer chain omega 3 fatty acids present in oily fish and which have been shown to be beneficial for cardiovascular disease. The nutritional consequences of slightly higher levels of intake of the shorter chain omega 3 fatty acids are not known, and so there is no currently justification for such labelling.

General Practitioners

Andrew Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many general medical practitioner whole-time equivalents there are in England; what methodology she used in calculating this number; and what the margin of error is in the estimate.

Liam Byrne: In June 2005, there were 32,418 general medical practitioners, excluding general practitioner (GP) retainers and GP registrars. This equated to 29,010 full-time equivalents (FTE).
	The new primary medical care contract was introduced in 1 April 2004 and this only stipulates whether GPs are full-time or part-time. Using information from previous years the FTE figures were estimated using factors of 1.0 full-time and 0.6 part-time.

King Edward VII Hospital, Midhurst

Andrew Tyrie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps have been taken to ensure that the skills of the full-time equivalent staff at King Edward VII Hospital, Midhurst can be redeployed in the regional NHS.

Caroline Flint: This is a local matter. I am informed that the joint human resources team from Western Sussex and Royal West Sussex National Health Service Trust have worked closely to help staff find vacancies within the NHS. Western Sussex Primary Care Trust (PCT) has transferred the consultant and community specialist palliative care team to the PCT to ensure these specialist skills and this service is not lost to NHS patients. Chichester district council has provided support to staff to access alternative employment.

King Edward VII Hospital, Midhurst

Andrew Tyrie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps she has taken to ensure that standards of care are maintained for those NHS patients (a) being treated and (b) due to be treated at King Edward VII Hospital, Midhurst.

Caroline Flint: This is a local matter. Responsibility for the provision of health services now rests with local national health service organisation. The local primary care trusts (PCTs) responsible for commissioning treatment for NHS patients have, where possible, commissioned ongoing treatment with the same consultant or nearest local NHS provider who offers the service. I am informed that no existing inpatient had to be transferred as a result of the closure.

King Edward VII Hospital, Midhurst

Andrew Tyrie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps she is taking to ensure that the local NHS has capacity to deal with the effects of the closure of King Edward VII hospital, Midhurst.

Caroline Flint: Primary care trusts (PCTs) are responsible for commissioning care to get the best services for local people, subject to the highest clinical standards and best value for money. At a local level, the PCTs commissioning treatments have been able to secure the necessary capacity to treat these patients without causing capacity problems for local national health service providers.

King Edward VII Hospital, Midhurst

Andrew Tyrie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the likely effect of the possible closure of King Edward VII hospital, Midhurst on waiting times for patients on the waiting list for operations at St. Richard's hospital, Chichester.

Caroline Flint: This is a local matter. Responsibility for the delivery of local health services, including meeting national waiting time targets, now rests with local national health service organisations. I am informed that the Royal West Sussex NHS Trust has worked closely with Western Sussex Primary Care Trust and King Edward VII hospital and is confident that all patients will be treated within the national waiting time targets.

King Edward VII Hospital, Midhurst

Andrew Tyrie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions took place between representatives of local primary care trusts and officials from her Department on the future of King Edward VII hospital, Midhurst.

Caroline Flint: I am informed that the Western Sussex Primary Care Trust (PCT) is not aware of any discussions between representatives of the PCT and this Department.

King Edward VII Hospital, Midhurst

Andrew Tyrie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions were held between officials from her Department and Capio Healthcare UK on the future of King Edward VII hospital, Midhurst in the last 12 months.

Caroline Flint: The Department was made aware of Capio's plan to purchase the King Edward VII hospital in December 2004. Capio has kept the Department informed of developments with their plans to purchase the facility since this time. The Department was informed on 9 March 2006 that the proposed deal would not be going ahead.

King Edward VII Hospital, Midhurst

Andrew Tyrie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the funding deficits in the NHS in (a) the Surrey and Sussex and (b) Hampshire and the Isle of Wight Strategic Health Authorities resulted in a reduction in the funding stream provided to King Edward VII hospital, Midhurst through the primary care trusts.

Caroline Flint: This is a local matter. It is the responsibility of strategic health authorities to deliver both overall financial balance for their local health communities and to ensure that each and every body achieves financial balance. The King Edward VII Hospital has received funding from primary care trusts in Surrey and Sussex and Hampshire and the Isle of Wight for activity in the following areas:
	Cancer careoncology and palliative care;
	Cardiology;
	Cardiac surgery;
	Orthopaedic surgery;
	Ophthalmology; and
	Bariatric surgery

Medicine Use Review (Hertfordshire)

Charles Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps she is taking to educate Hertfordshire GPs about the terms of the medicine use review; and if she will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: Medicine use review (MUR) is an advanced service introduced as part of the new contractual framework for community pharmacy. The underlying purpose of this service is, for pharmacists, with the patient's agreement, to improve a patient's knowledge and use of medicines. In particular, the pharmacist can identify side effects and drug interactions that may affect the patient's compliance with instructions given to them by a health professional for taking the medicines and improve the clinical and cost effectiveness of medicines prescribed for patients, thereby reducing waste.
	This is a matter for determination by the local primary care trust and I am advised there are a number of local initiatives underway or being developed. The Department has issued national guidance to all PCTs on MURs and information leaflets publicising the service have been made available to patents. No specific national guidance has been issued to general practitioners.

Meningitis

Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what training requirements there are for doctors in respect of the treatment of meningitis.

Liam Byrne: The content and standard of postgraduate medical training is the responsibility of the postgraduate medical education and training board, which is the competent authority for postgraduate medical training in the United Kingdom.

Myasthenia Gravis

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  if she will make a statement on Government support for those who are diagnosed with myasthenia gravis and their families;
	(2)  what plans she has to increase the number of consultants and nurses qualified to diagnose and treat myasthenia gravis;
	(3)  what steps she is taking to increase awareness of myasthenia gravis in the medical profession.

Liam Byrne: The Government are sympathetic to the needs of patients with myasthenia gravis and the impact this condition can have on their independence and quality of life.
	Patients with myasthenia gravis are able to access a range of national health service and social care services, which are tailored to meet their individual needs, to help them manage their condition. It is for primary care trusts, in consultation with other stakeholders, to determine which services, including those for people with myasthenia gravis, their local populations require and ensuring the appropriate provision of these services.
	The national service framework (NSF) for long-term conditions is supporting local sustained improvements in service quality for people with long-term neurological conditions, including myasthenia gravis. The NSF addresses a range of key issues including the need for equitable access to a range of services; good quality information and support for patients and carers; the ability to see a specialist and get the right investigations and diagnosis as quickly as possible.
	It is our intention to publish best practice guidance on musculoskeletal conditions later this year. The publication of this framework will help to raise awareness of all musculoskeletal conditions, including myasthenia gravis, among health professionals.

NHS Logistics Authority

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what risk assessment she has undertaken of the outsourcing of the NHS Logistics Authority to DHL/Novation.

Jane Kennedy: The potential outsourcing of NHS Logistics and the NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency consumables procurement service to DHL/Novation is currently subject to market testing.
	The market testing began in August 2004 and throughout this period there has been a thorough examination of risk at every stage. The evaluation of risk has explored the risk of outsourcing at all, and the risk attendant upon outsourcing to each and every one of the bidders, including DHL/Novation.
	The Department's risk register has been reviewed by the Office of Government Commerce's Gateway review team and they have been satisfied that it is robust.
	Gateway is a review of an acquisition programme or procurement project carried out at key decision points by a team independent of the project team.

NHS Staff

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many temporary NHS (a) staff, (b) doctors and (c) nurses, broken down by specialism, there were in each (i) strategic health authority, (ii) Government office region and (iii) the Southport and Ormskirk NHS Trust in the last 12 months for which data are available.

Liam Byrne: The Department collects information about locum doctors, including locum general practitioners, and bank nurses.
	The information about these staff groups has been placed in the Library. This relates to 30 September 2004, the last date for which information is available.

Obesity

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 1 December 2005, Official Report, column 726W, on obesity, if she will place in the Library a copy of her Department's evaluation of the local delivery plans.

Caroline Flint: The Department's role is to agree with strategic health authorities (SHAs) local delivery plans (LDPs) in the form of data trajectories to achieve national targets. These then form the basis of a business agreement with the SHA against which they are performance managed and held to account for the performance of the national health service within their area.
	The SHA plans are aggregated from their local primary care trust plans and must, as a minimum, meet national target levels and, where appropriate, SHA envelopes or shares of targets, to be signed off by the Department.
	The assessment/sign off process is continuing management relationship process and changes may occur during the three-year planning period.

Opportunities for Volunteering Scheme

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many organisations receive grants through the opportunities for volunteering scheme; how many (a) clients and (b) volunteers they include; and when she expects to determine their grants for 200607.

Liam Byrne: The opportunities for volunteering scheme (OFV) funded grants to 271 organisations in 200506, involving 13,281 volunteers in the period to October 2005. The Department does not collect data on the number of clients involved in OFV projects. The 16 voluntary sector national agents determine individual OFV grants subject to the allocation of funds to them by the Department. Allocations to national agents will be determined when the Department's central budget review is completed.

Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of members of the principal civil service pension scheme in her Department joined the scheme before the age of (a) 20, (b) 25, (c) 30, (d) 35, (e) 40, (f) 45 and (g) over 45 years old.

Liam Byrne: The information requested can be provided only at disproportionate cost as it is not available in the required format.

Selenium

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps she is taking to promote the consumption of foods rich in the mineral selenium; and if she will commission research into raising the selenium content of British soil.

Caroline Flint: The Food Standards Agency (FSA) advises that an adequate amount of selenium can be obtained from a varied balanced diet, containing meat, fish or nuts.
	The FSA is currently funding research to establish whether the decline in selenium in the diet is having an adverse effect on the health of the United Kingdom population.

Strokes

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  when she expects to produce a stroke strategy;
	(2)  whether the stroke strategy will include proposals to ensure that stroke patients are given a scan as soon as possible.

Rosie Winterton: The Department has commenced work on an 18-month programme to develop a national strategy for stroke. The Department is progressing work on the strategy through a core steering group to oversee development, project groups that will take forward and develop recommendations on the key areas of the strategy and a wider stroke taskforce that will act as a reference group to ensure wide involvement in the process.
	One of the key areas of the stroke strategy will focus on accelerating the emergency response to stroke and improving co-ordination between the different agencies and professionals involved, including improved and rapid access to high quality appropriate scanning.

Vaccines

David Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list the three largest suppliers in financial terms to the national health service of (a) influenza, (b) polio, (c) BCG and (d) hepatitis B vaccines in each of the last five years.

Caroline Flint: The Department does not have information on the market share in financial terms of each supplier.
	Influenza vaccines are supplied direct to the national health service by Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, Sanofi Pasteur MSD, Solvay, Chiron Vaccines, GlaxoSmithKline and MASTA. Hepatitis B vaccine is supplied direct to the NHS by Sanofi Pasteur MSD and GlaxoSmithKline.
	The information on market share for these products is commercially confidential.
	Prior to September 2004, oral polio vaccine (OPV) was used in the routine national childhood immunisation programme. GlaxoSmithKline was the sole supplier of this product in the United Kingdom from November 2000. From September 2004 onwards, the UK replaced OPV with inactivated polio vaccine (IPV). IPV is provided as one component of the combined vaccines used for protecting against polio and other diseases. These vaccines are supplied by Sanofi Pasteur MSD and GlaxoSmithKline.
	The Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine, manufactured by Statens Serum Institute, is supplied to the NHS as part of the national immunisation childhood programme.

vCJD

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Health to this date, how many people in England have contracted vCJD; and if she will make a statement.

Caroline Flint: There have been 129 definite or probable cases of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease with last known residence in England to date. Five of these cases are still alive.

Working with Children

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether being placed on the sex offenders' register is a criterion for being placed on her Department's list of individuals who are considered unsuitable to work with children.

Ruth Kelly: I have been asked to reply.
	My statement, and the accompanying report, of 19 January and further statement of 1 March set out clearly the Government's analysis of, and response to, issues concerning child protection and List 99, together with the action we are taking currently and will be taking in the future.
	My Department also maintains the Protection of Children Act list which is a referrals-based system. Following disciplinary action for misconduct, if certain conditions are satisfied, child care organisations must, and other organisations may refer the names of individuals employed in child care positions to the Secretary of State (these are usually employers but a small number of other organisations have the power to refer names). To place an individual on the Protection of Children Act List (otherwise than provisionally), providing she is satisfied that the referral is a valid one, the Secretary of State must form the opinion that:
	the referring organisation reasonably considered the person to be guilty of misconduct which harmed a child or placed a child at risk of harm, (whether or not in the course of employment), and
	that the individual is unsuitable to work with children.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Afghanistan

William Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what financial assistance for alternative livelihoods to opium production was given to (a) Badakhshan and (b) Nangahar province in Afghanistan in each year since 2002; and if he will make a statement.

Jack Straw: According to the United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime, a total of US$ 490 million worth of international aid was committed towards alternative livelihoods in Afghanistan in 200506. US$47.3 million of this assistance was committed to Badakhshan and US$70.1 million to Nangahar. There are no reliable collective figures for assistance specifically to develop alternative livelihoods prior to this date.
	The Department for International Development (DFID) supports alternative livelihoods by providing funds for the Government of Afghanistan's National Priority Programmes, which provide immediate support and long term development inputs across every province in Afghanistan. In particular, since 2003 the UK has provided 40 million to the National Solidarity Programme which has helped establish Community Development Councils which deliver community-led development initiatives in thousands of Afghan villages; the National Rural Access Programme, which has brought about employment through public works, such as irrigation schemes and renovation of roads; and the Microfinance and Investment Support Facility, which delivers loan schemes for investments in small-businesses, agriculture and to support service industries such as small shops. All three of these programmes are operating in Badakhshan and Nangahar Provinces.
	In addition to supporting these national programmes in Badakhshan DFID has, since 2003, provided 2.5 million to the Aga Khan Foundation to develop alternatives to poppy cultivation and 3 million to an International Organisation for Migration cash-for-work programme which has provided 500,000 labour days as an alternative legal source of income for those who would otherwise be engaged in poppy cultivation.
	In Nangahar, DFID is providing 300,000 over three years to Relief International to undertake research into the livelihood impact and market potential of six legume and vegetable crops as potential viable alternatives to opium poppy cultivation.

Afghanistan

Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs 
	(1)  whether local community leaders in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, have made representations to the British embassy in Afghanistan regarding the non-payment of compensation for poppy eradication;
	(2)  whether cheques drawn on a British Government funded account at a local bank in Lashkar Gar, Afghanistan have been returned unpaid due to insufficient funds.

Kim Howells: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him today (UIN 62477).

Angola

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions (a) he and (b) members of his Department have had with (i) members and representatives of (A) the Government of and (B) the opposition in Angola and (ii) the Ministry of Defence concerning possible UK (1) logistical and (2) practical assistance to the disarmament process in Angola; and if he will make a statement.

Ian Pearson: There have been no discussions at ministerial level on this issue with members or representatives of the Government of, and opposition in, Angola. The British Embassy in Luanda, after discussions with the Angolan authorities and in conjunction with the Angolan Interior and Defence Ministries, funded the Halo Trust to carry out a pilot project on how civil disarmament should be approached in Angola. Based on the findings, we are now funding Phase One of Halo's disarmament programme with 281,622 from the joint Foreign and Commonwealth Office/Department for International Development/Ministry of Defence Africa Conflict Prevention Pool. This project will initially focus on three central Angolan provinces seriously affected by the civil war.

Belarus

William Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assistance the Government are providing to help build democratic civil society in Belarus; and if he will make a statement.

Jack Straw: The UK has provided 1.5 million since 2002 to assist civil society in Belarus. During our presidency of the EU, we outlined steps to be taken by the EU to increase contact with the Belarusian people and to strengthen support for civil society, including through technical assistance and by opening an EU office in Minsk. To this effect, the EU has transferred 2 million from its Technical Aid to the Commonwealth of Independent States programme to the more flexible European Initiative for Democracy and Human Rights programme.

Capgemini

Andrew MacKinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer of 22 March 2006, Official Report, columns 4234W, when he expects to be able to disclose full details of the grounds on which his Department is making a claim against Capgemini.

Jack Straw: At the appropriate time I will make a statement, to the extent that I can give details without prejudice to my Department's commercial relations.

Hamas

Michael Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the Government's policy is on (a) dialogue with and (b) funding of the incoming Hamas-led government in the Palestinian Territories; and if he will make a statement.

Jack Straw: We support the approach set out by the Quartet (US, UN, EU and Russia) on 30 January, which said that the Palestinian Government must be committed to non-violence, recognition of Israel and acceptance of previous international agreements and obligations.
	I also refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Minister of State for the Middle East, (Dr. Howells), to the hon. Member for Altrincham and Sale West, (Mr. Brady) on 13 March 2006, Official Report, column 1908W.

Madagascar

Paul Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether ministerial visits to Madagascar are planned in the next 12 months.

Ian Pearson: No ministerial visits to Madagascar are currently planned.

Nepal

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent representations he has received on (a) the security situation, (b) promotion of democracy, (c) press freedom and (d) civil liberties in Nepal.

Kim Howells: I have not received any direct representations on Nepal in recent months on the issues of security, democracy, press freedom and civil liberties. However, my Department regularly receives visitors from a wide range of organisations and backgrounds, who come to raise these issues with us, among many other related concerns on Nepal. Since the beginning of this year we have received the following such representations: the Trade Union Congress who met my hon. Friend the Minister for Trade, Investment and Foreign Affairs (Ian Pearson) on 15 February, Dalit Solidarity Network on 9 February, Action Aid on 8 February, National Peace Campaign on 1 February, Sushil Pyakurel (former Commissioner at the Nepalese National Human Rights Commission) on 24 February, Liz Philipson (an academic funded by the Department for International Development) on 22 February, the Ganesh man Singh Academy on 14 February, International Crisis Group on 10 February and Peace Brigades International on 7 February. We also regularly answer letters from Members about concerns raised by their constituents, many of which raise these issues.

PRISM

Andrew MacKinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer of 23 March 2006, Official Report, column 575W, on PRISM IT systems, whether all the posts referred to in the answer can now (a) access their suppliers and (b) approve purchases; whether the software rules granting access to accounting processes have been rectified in all cases; and if he will make a statement.

Jack Straw: Most of these posts will start using PRISM from 3 April, although Islamabad, Kabul and Tblisi have elected to go live in May. Rigorous testing is under way to guarantee that they can access their suppliers, approve purchases and are able to access the full accounting processes they require.

PRISM

Andrew MacKinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer of 23 March 2006, Official Report, column 574W, on PRISM, what share of the responsibility he considers (a) his Department and (b) the supplier had for not anticipating the problems faced by posts using satellite communications; and if he will make a statement.

Jack Straw: It was expected that PRISM performance would be slower at satellite posts. For this reason, Cape Town, a satellite post, was chosen as a PRISM pilot ahead of the main rollout. This post was able to use the system effectively, as were many satellite posts in the early rollout to Europe and the Americas. However, as the rollout progressed, it became evident that performance was poorer at more satellite posts than was acceptable.
	The interaction of PRISM and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's communications infrastructure is complex. We have worked closely with the supplier, Capgemini, to consider how to deploy PRISM over our infrastructure. We continue to work with both the supplier and Oracle to analyse and address performance problems. It is not a question of apportioning blame, but of working together to improve performance.

Rendition Allegations (Inquiries)

David Borrow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to his written statement of 20 January 2006, Official Report, column 38WS, on rendition allegations (inquiries), if he will name the individuals involved in the two cases in 1998 where the British Government agreed to a request from the US authorities to render a detainee through UK territory or airspace; and through which UK airports they were transferred.

Kim Howells: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Selby (Mr. Grogan) today (UIN 63076).

Rendition Allegations (Inquiries)

John Grogan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to his written statement of 20 January 2006, Official Report, column 38WS, on rendition allegations (inquiries), if he will name the individuals involved in the two cases in 1998 where the British Government agreed to a request from the US authorities to render a detainee through UK territory or airspace; and through which UK airports they were transferred.

Kim Howells: In both cases the individuals were transferred through the UK in order to stand trial in the United States. The cases were as follows:
	In June 1998, a flight carrying Mohammed Rashid landed at Prestwick en route to the United States. He was charged for bombing a Pan Am aircraft in August 1982. He pleaded guilty to murder in December 2002 and is due to be sentenced shortly.
	In August 1998, Mohamed Rashed Daoud Al-Owhali landed at Stansted en route to the United States. He was charged for his part in the 1998 attack on the US embassy in Nairobi. He was convicted in June 2001 and sentenced to life imprisonment.

Reparations

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much is owed to the UK in reparations following the second world war, broken down by debtor country.

Jack Straw: The Government has resolved state damages claims arising out of the second world war with former Axis countries and with Austria. Nothing is owing.

Sudan

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the timetable is for the peace agreement in Sudan to be signed.

Ian Pearson: At the African Union's (AU) Peace and Security Commission meeting on 10 March, the AU called for the parties to the Darfur conflict to reach a peace agreement at the talks in Abuja, Nigeria, by 30 April. We agree with the AU's emphasis on the urgency of a settlement and are working with the parties and the mediation to ensure that a comprehensive and sustainable peace deal is reached in Abuja. The UK is providing more than l million and a number of experts to support the talks.
	A comprehensive peace agreement ending over twenty years of north-south civil war was signed on 9 January 2005.

Sudan

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent representations he has received on the peace agreement in Sudan.

Ian Pearson: We hold regular discussions with the Sudanese parties, the African Union and key international partners on both the need for a peace agreement in Darfur, and the implementation of the comprehensive peace agreement (CPA) in Sudan. My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary addressed the Darfur peace talks in Abuja, Nigeria, on 14 February during which he made clear that we expected the parties to make much faster progress. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for International Development held detailed discussions with the Government of Sudan on the need to reach a peace deal for Darfur and fully implement the CPA during his visit to Sudan on 2123 February.

Sudan

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with the UN on security in Sudan.

Ian Pearson: We hold regular and ongoing discussions with the UN on security in Sudan, both in New York and in Sudan. On 24 March the UN Security Council passed resolution 1663, renewing the mandate of the United Nations Mission in Sudan. The UN Secretary General's special representative for Sudan, Jan Pronk, briefed the Security Council on the situation in Sudan on 21 March raising his concerns about the security situation in Darfur. The international community is clear that the security situation in Sudan, especially Darfur, must be improved as a matter of urgency. We have therefore supported the deployment of a UN peacekeeping mission through the north and south of Sudan, and the African Union mission in Darfur.

Sudan

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment he has made of levels of violence in southern Sudan.

Ian Pearson: We are concerned by reports of ongoing violence in southern Sudan, particularly recent attacks against the UN in Yei and Yambio, in which one UN employee was killed. We utterly condemn these attacks and have made clear that those responsible must be brought to justice. We continue to press both the Government of National Unity and Government of South Sudan to implement the comprehensive peace agreement, which provides the best hope for peace throughout Sudan, and to work closely with the United Nations mission in Sudan to extend the rule of law throughout southern Sudan.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Average Earnings

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland 
	(1)  what the average gross weekly earning were in each council area in Northern Ireland in the latest period for which figures are available;
	(2)  what the average gross weekly earnings in Northern Ireland are according to the latest Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, broken down by council area.

Angela Smith: The average gross weekly earnings 1 in Northern Ireland for full-time employees according to the latest Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, broken down by council area are provided in the following table.
	
		
			  Median gross weekly earnings at April 2005 () 
			 District council Based on home postcode Based on work postcode 
		
		
			 Antrim 379.0 340.3 
			 Ards 329.1 282.2 
			 Armagh 373.4 327.8 
			 Ballymena 366.5 352.7 
			 Ballymoney 325.6 301.5 
			 Banbridge 396.1 (17)n/a 
			 Belfast 402.5 414.5 
			 Carrickfergus 356.1 401.7 
			 Castlereagh 440.8 377.5 
			 Coleraine 356.9 320.6 
			 Cookstown 337.3 325.1 
			 Craigavon 349.8 328.9 
			 Derry 334.0 487.0 
			 Down 374.7 294.2 
			 Dungannon 402.1 400.1 
			 Fermanagh 314.2 309.8 
			 Larne 369.6 363.7 
			 Limavady 349.1 (17)n/a 
			 Lisburn 396.7 379.0 
			 Magherafelt 382.0 307.9 
			 Moyle (17)n/a 262.2 
			 Newry and Mourne 402.7 370.8 
			 Newtownabbey 398.0 374.6 
			 North Down 423.4 349.9 
			 Omagh 403.2 384.8 
			 Strabane 299.8 298.2 
		
	
	(16) The information relates to employees on adult rates whose pay for the survey pay-period was not affected by absence.
	(17) Estimate is not available (n/a) due to excessive variability.

Cancer Care (Belfast)

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what nursing care is provided on weekdays between 6pm and 9am for cancer patients using the Belfast City Hospital Patient Hotel in Belfast.

Shaun Woodward: No nursing care is provided at the Patients Hotel (Glenview Building) at Belfast City Hospital.
	The facility is designed to provide accommodation free of charge for cancer patients from outlying areas who although self caring and mobile require accommodation close to the Cancer Centre to avoid repeated long journeys for daily treatment. In the event that a patient staying at Glenview Building becomes unwell, access to nursing and medical staff is readily available from the hospital.
	Patients who have been assessed as requiring nursing care while receiving treatment are admitted to Belfast City Hospital and would therefore not be accommodated in the Glenview Building.

Capita Group

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what meetings (a) he and (b) Ministers in his Department have held with directors and senior executives of (i) Capita Group plc and (ii) its subsidiaries since 1 January 2004; and whether (A) Capita Group plc and (B) its subsidiaries have provided input (1) in writing and (2) in person to policy discussions in his Department since 1st January 2004.

Peter Hain: Capita Group plc has a large number of trading subsidiaries and I am unable to provide the requested information without incurring disproportionate costs.

Car Park (Coleraine)

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when he expects the multi-storey car park at Abbey Street in Coleraine to be (a) completed and (b) open.

David Hanson: The Department for Social Development issued a development brief in respect of the Abbey Street and Mall car park sites in November 2005. One of the objectives of the development brief was to address the parking shortfall in Coleraine town centre. The Department is currently assessing the development proposals which have been submitted in response to the development brief. It is anticipated that the Department will be in a position to appoint a preferred developer or developers for these sites at the end of 2006 and that construction site could commence on one of them during 2007. It is not possible at this time to predict when a multi-storey car park at Abbey Street may be completed and open as the nature and timing of a development on that site has not yet been decided.

Correspondence

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland for what reasons his Department took more than seven months to reply to the hon. Member for North Down's letter dated 1 August 2005 (TOF/353/2005).

Shaun Woodward: An administrative error within the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety unfortunately caused the delay to which the hon. Lady refers. I have apologised to the hon. Lady for the delay in my response of 20 March.

Equality Commission

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the salary is of the Political Affairs Officer of the Equality Commission in Northern Ireland; on how many occasions since October 2004 meetings have been sought with political representatives in Northern Ireland by the officer; and with whom meetings were held in that period.

Angela Smith: I understand that the Chief Executive of the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland, Ms Evelyn Collins, has written to the hon. Gentleman in the following terms:
	The Political Affairs Officer post is set at NICS Staff Officer grade and the salary is within the NICS salary scale at this level.
	The remit of the post of Political Affairs Officer, which is part of the Communications and Coordination Unit of the Commission, includes the promotion and co-ordination of all points of engagement between ECNI and the political sector in Northern Ireland. The role of the Unit generally covers media work, political liaison, stakeholder liaison and internal/external communications as well as coordination.
	Since October 2004, the Political Affairs Officer has on two occasions offered, on behalf of the Commission, briefing meetings on pre-agreed topics, including Section 75, to all of the five main political parties. Staff from across the Commission would be involved in such briefings. In respect of the s75 briefings, four parties have taken up the offer and the DUP have not yet.
	In respect of political parties, the Chief Commissioner has sought meetings with the leaders of the five main political parties. The leaders of four parties have accepted the invitation and meetings have taken placethese meetings were attended also by the Chief Executive and the Political Affairs Officer. A meeting with the Leader of the DUP remains outstanding, and efforts continue to be made by the Commission to arrange this meeting.
	The Commission has met with all the main political parties in the period specified. These meetings, which have included the Political Affairs Officer, are outlined as follows. Some of these meetings were at the request of the political party:
	DUP: 2
	SDLP: 3
	Sinn Fein: 5
	UUP: 1

Residents' Parking

Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether the Department of Regional Development's Roads Service has assessed the merits of establishing residents' parking schemes in residential areas adjacent to the University of Ulster Magee Campus.

Shaun Woodward: The Chief Executive of Roads Service (Dr. Malcolm McKibbin) has been asked to write to the hon. Gentleman in response to this question.
	Letter from Dr. Malcolm McKibbin, dated 30 March 2006
	You recently asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland a Parliamentary Question about whether the Department for Regional Development's Roads Service has assessed the merits of establishing residents' parking schemes in residential areas adjacent to the University of Ulster Magee Campus.
	I have been asked to reply as this issue falls within my responsibility as Chief Executive of Roads Service.
	You will be aware that the introduction of charged parking in the Magee Campus car parks in September 2004 led to complaints from residents in adjacent areas about parking problems. As a result, the University did agree to re-evaluate their decision however, residents would still appear to be concerned about the increased level of parking in adjacent streets.
	At present there are no residents' parking schemes operating in Northern Ireland. However, I can advise that policy development on the introduction and operation of residents' parking schemes is well advanced and it is hoped that this process will be completed within the next two months, at which time it will be submitted to the Minister for approval.
	Subject to Ministerial approval, Roads Service proposes to initiate detailed surveys and commence formal consultation with the residents living in the vicinity of Magee College to seek agreement on the extent and detail of any such scheme.
	You may be aware that the local PSNI agreed to enforce a pilot residents' parking scheme in the university area, however it is unlikely that any scheme will be brought forward in advance of the introduction of Decriminalised Enforcement Parking in October 2006, when the Department will take over the responsibility for the enforcement.
	I am advised that in an attempt to provide an interim resolution to some of the concerns of the residents, staff in our Northern Division wrote to the Aberfoyle Residents Committee in October 2005 suggesting the introduction of limited parking waiting restrictions in the area. I understand that to date a reply to this letter has not been received.
	I trust you find the above information useful and I can assure you that when residents' parking schemes are being introduced in Londonderry, the area around the Magee Campus will be given a high priority.

Rural Planning

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when the rural planning announcement made on 16 March 2006 was first discussed internally within the Department for Regional Development.

Shaun Woodward: The preparation of Draft Planning Policy Statement 14Sustainable Development in the Countryside commenced with publication of an Issues Paper in June 2004. The option of a more restrictive policy for development in the countryside has been considered since then. The final decision for a more restrictive policy was made in early December 2005.

Sexual Offences (Children)

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people were convicted of offences involving sexual attacks on children in Northern Ireland in 2005.

David Hanson: At present, Northern Ireland court proceedings and sentencing data sources do not include victim information in relation to the commission of an offence. Therefore, it is only possible to provide the number of convictions for those offences which, by their definition, identify a child as the victim, for example, indecent assault on child or gross indecency with child. Table 1 provides the number of such convictions broken down by offence.
	Data beyond 2003 is currently not available.
	
		Table 1: Number of convictions for sexual offences involving children 2003
		
			 Offence Number of convictions 
		
		
			 Gross indecency with child 6 
			 Buggery with boy under 16 years 1 
			 Unlawful carnal knowledge of a girl under 14 1 
			 Unlawful carnal knowledge of girl under 17 5 
			 Indecent assault on female child 3 
			 Total 16

Sexual Offences (Children)

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people living in Northern Ireland in January (a) 2001 and (b) 2006 were on the sex offenders register.

David Hanson: There were 265 persons living in Northern Ireland subject to the notification requirements of Part 2 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 in January 2001 and 813 in January 2006.

Victims' March (Dublin)

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether the Republic of Ireland authorities have sought assistance from the police in Northern Ireland regarding the whereabouts of persons resident in Northern Ireland in relation to the disturbances in Dublin on 25 February.

Peter Hain: No.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Agency Staff

Michael Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many staff were employed by non-departmental public bodies and agencies for which he has responsibility in 200405 in (a) total and (b) each (i) nation and (ii) region of the UK and (c) London.

Anne McGuire: Information on the number of staff in the Department's agencies and its non-departmental public bodies is in the following table.
	
		
			 Region/ country Jobcentre Plus The pension service Child support agency Disability and carers service Appeal service The Rent service Non departmental public bodies HSE 
		
		
			 East Midlands 4,441 985 166 1 91 37 0 134 
			 East of England 4,785 955 226 0 6 41 0 213 
			 London 9,384 412 66 624 84 219 38 615 
			 North East 4,726 4,707 1,138 144 53 41 32 79 
			 North West 11,256 2,398 2,103 4,401 133 121 0 1,392 
			 South East 6,029 402 1,213 0 2 74 0 172 
			 South West 4,704 817 1,496 200 37 74 0 101 
			 West Midlands 6,369 1,194 1,481 172 71 51 85 538 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 8,442 1,020 333 445 56 61 0 222 
			 Scotland 8,589 1,786 1,451 285 124 0 0 312 
			 Wales 4,682 1,512 111 172 94 0 0 125 
			 Total 73,406 16,189 9,784 6,506 752 718 155 3,903 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. HSE is Health and Safety Executive.
	2. Figures are civil service full time equivalent posts (rounded, at point in time 31 March 2005, except for HSE where figures are as at 1 April 2005). Columns may not sum due to rounding.
	3. Staff on paid maternity leave are excluded.
	4. Temporary staff are included.

Attendance Allowance

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average waiting time was for an upgrade from the lower rate of attendance allowance to the higher rate in the latest period for which information is available; and whether there is a mechanism for speeding up such an upgrade based on the urgency of the case.

Anne McGuire: The administration of attendance allowance is a matter for the chief executive of the Disability and Carers Service, Mr. Terry Moran. He will write to the hon. Member.
	Letter from Terry Moran, dated 30 March 2006
	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average waiting time was for an upgrade from the lower rate of attendance allowance to the higher rate in the latest period for which information is available; and whether there is a mechanism for speeding up such an upgrade based on the urgency of the case.
	The Minister for Disabled People, Anne McGuire MP, promised you a substantive reply from the Chief Executive of the Disability and Carers Service.
	The information requested regarding what the average waiting time was for an upgrade from the lower rate of attendance allowance to the higher rate is not available.
	Claims made under the Special Rule provision would receive urgent consideration over and above the norm. The special rules cover people who suffer from a progressive disease that is so severe that they are not expected to live longer than six months.
	I am sorry I cannot be more helpful.

Benefit Fraud

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many fraudulent benefit claims were (a) detected and (b) prosecuted in each year since 1997.

James Plaskitt: holding answer 6 March 2006
	We do not collect information on the number of fraudulent benefit claims detected by local authorities. Information on the number of fraudulent benefit claims detected by DWP is provided in the tables. For the years 19978 and 19989 there was a broader definition of 'detected fraud', much of which did not lead to an immediate change in benefit entitlement. For those years, the figures are as follows.
	
		
			  Referrals counted as fraud Total sanctions(18) 
		
		
			 199798 483,814(19) 11,523 
			 199899 420,766(19) 12,964 
		
	
	(18) From December 1998 the system of criminal sanctions was extended to introduce administrative penalties and cautions as an alternative to prosecutions.
	(19) Before 1999 a different system for counting cases was used. Figures from 1999 are not comparable with previous figures.
	Source:
	Fraud Information by Sector (FiBS)  Organised Fraud (OF) Resource Management.
	From April 1999 there was a major change in the method of measuring effective cases, limiting the count only to those cases with an immediate change in benefit entitlement. In view of this change, figures from 19992000 are set out in the table.
	
		
			  Referrals accepted for investigation Detected fraud (Effective outcomes) Total sanctions(20) 
		
		
			 199900 564,543 198,467 20,301 
			 200001 441,368 182,569 27,139 
			 200102 389,633 160,974 24,906 
			 200203 334,974 145,232 23,669 
			 200304 325,706 135,710 25,363 
			 200405 309,343 150,651 27,175 
		
	
	(20) From December 1998 the system of criminal sanctions was extended to introduce administrative penalties and cautions as an alternative to prosecutions.
	Notes:
	On the fall in detected cases after 1999:
	1. In line with the fall in benefit fraud there has been a reduction in the stock of fraud, leading to fewer referrals and fewer cases for investigation.
	2. There has also been a more focused approach to investigation with a more selective referral management system. This has enabled us to concentrate on the more serious criminal investigations to maintain the level of sanctions imposed where fraud has been detected.
	3. The development of new initiatives such as data matching with other agencies has also played a significant part in this more targeted approach to fraud investigation.
	4. We are also introducing a new customer compliance approach as a more effective method of dealing with the lower level frauds that do not need to be investigated to the criminal standard.
	Source:
	Fraud Information by Sector (FiBS)  Organised Fraud (OF) Resource Management.
	Information regarding the number of prosecutions for benefit fraud is in the table.
	
		Prosecutions and convictions for benefit fraud
		
			  DWP Local authorities 
			  Prosecutions Convictions Prosecutions Convictions Total convictions 
		
		
			 199798 11,523 11,386  730 12116 
			 199899 10,129 9,967  831 10798 
			 19992000 9,272 9,129  861 9990 
			 200001 11,584 11,403  1112 12515 
			 200102 11,355 11,183 2,101 1,732 12915 
			 200203 9,396 9,267 3,187 2,503 11770 
			 200304 9,204 9,091 4,601 3,747 12838 
			 200405 8,670 8,573 5,544 4,688 13261 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. For DWP, prosecutions include convictions and acquittals and are totals of Counter fraud Investigation Service and Organised Fraud cases. For local authorities, prosecutions equate to the number of court summons issued.
	Figures for prosecutions by local authorities are not available prior to 200102.
	Source:
	1. For DWP: fraud Information by Sector (FiBS)  Organised Fraud (OF).
	2. Resource Management.
	3. For local authorities: from 200102 onwards the numbers of prosecutions and convictions are taken from subsidy claim forms. Prior to this the numbers are taken from management information returns.

Call Centres

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 14 November 2005, Official Report, column 1006W, on call centres, if he will break down the figures by each individual benefit or function, including (a) the Child Support Agency, (b) the Pensions Agency and (c) disability living allowance/attendance allowance; and if he will make a statement.

Anne McGuire: holding answer 12 December 2006
	The information requested is in the following table:
	
		Table 1
		
			 Helplines (see table 2 for explanations of these measures and calculations)200304 200405 200506 
		
		
			 CSA NHL CSCS (old scheme)
			 Number of call centres 7 7 7 
			 Number of calls handled by an adviser 2,525,392 2,221,572 965,393 
			 Number of calls abandoned 1,027,645 388,726 108,985 
			 Proportion of calls abandoned (percentage) 28.8 14.9 10.1 
			 Number of calls receiving the engaged tone 483,426 91,899 2678 
			 Proportion of calls receiving the engaged tone (percentage) 13.0 3.6 0.3 
			 CS2 (new scheme)
			 Number of calls handled by an adviser 891,354 2,018,122 1,223,222 
			 Number of calls abandoned 246,143 405,538 152,506 
			 Proportion of calls abandoned (percentage) 21.6 16.7 11 
			 Number of calls receiving the engaged tone 49,823 36,286 18755 
			 Proportion of calls receiving the engaged tone (percentage) 2.5 1.2 1.2 
			 DLA/AA
			 Number of call centres 1 1 1 
			 Number of calls handled by an adviser 3,917,613 4,425,920 2,759,508 
			 Number of calls abandoned 940,799 979,045 186,879 
			 Proportion of calls abandoned (percentage) 19.4 18.1 6.3 
			 Number of calls receiving the engaged tone 19,978,016 18,526,578 22,403 
			 Proportion of calls receiving the engaged tone (percentage) 80.0 77.4 0.75 
			 BEL
			 Number of call centres 1 1 1 
			 Number of calls handled by an adviser 1,247,725 1,077,290 488,797 
			 Number of calls abandoned 341,420 375,069 199,054 
			 Proportion of calls abandoned (percentage) 21.5 25.8 28.9 
			 Number of calls receiving the engaged tone 907,194 1,070,533 414,738 
			 Proportion of calls receiving the engaged tone (percentage) 36.3 42.4 37.6 
			 ED
			 Number of call centres 11 11 9 
			 Number of calls handled by an adviser 1,796,077 1,727,685 1,067,338 
			 Number of calls abandoned 101,359 84,102 36,608 
			 Proportion of calls abandoned (percentage) 5.34 4.64 3.31 
			 Number of calls receiving the engaged tone 0 0 0 
			 Proportion of calls receiving the engaged tone (percentage) 0 0 0 
			 JSD/FC
			 Number of call centres (21)91 (22)53 (23)39 
			 Number of calls handled by an adviser 7,243,994 10,349,719 7,252,995 
			 Number of calls abandoned 311,897 2,612,842 1,807,237 
			 Proportion of calls abandoned (percentage) 4.1 20.1 19.9 
			 Number of calls receiving the engaged tone 0 0 0 
			 Proportion of calls receiving the engaged tone (percentage) 0 0 0 
			 TPS
			 Number of call centres 35 36 down to 32 32 down to 29 
			 Number of calls handled by an adviser 11,815,732 16,661,006 4,907,413 
			 Number of calls abandoned 958,088 1,496,724 207,806 
			 Proportion of calls abandoned (percentage) 7.4 8.2 4 
			 Number of calls receiving the engaged tone (24)567,103 283,934 50,872 
			 Proportion of calls receiving the engaged tone (percentage) 0 2 1.1 
		
	
	(21) Jobcentre Plus had 91 sites taking Jobseeker Direct calls including a large number of small teams within Jobcentres.
	(22) In 200405 Jobcentre Plus started off with 53 sites and were down to 39 sites by the end of the year.
	(23) In 200506 Jobcentre Plus started of with 39 sites and are now down to 31 sites (this includes three Employer Direct sites who are taking Jobseeker Direct calls).
	(24) The network figure for calls receiving the engaged tone 200304 is not calculated in the same format as the other two periods due to the relevant data not being available.
	
		Table 2
		
			 Metric Explanation 
		
		
			 Number of calls handled by an adviser This measure is a count of the total number of calls that were answered by agents 
			 Number of calls abandoned This measure identifies the total number of calls that were abandoned in the queue before being answered by an agent 
			 Proportion of calls abandoned Calculation: Total abandoned calls divided by total calls presented to the Centre (excluding calls receiving the engaged tone) x100 
			 Number of calls receiving the engaged tone This measure is a count of the number of callers receiving the engaged tone 
			 Proportion of calls receiving the engaged tone Calculation: Calls receiving the engaged tone divided by total calls (i.e. calls answered, abandoned, engaged tone, etc) x 100

Call Centres

Tim Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the (a) average speed of response to calls and (b) proportion of failed calls was for each public call centre operated by or on behalf of his Department in the most recent period for which figures are available; and what the staff turnover was in each call centre in the same period.

Anne McGuire: The information that is available is shown in the table. All data relates to November 2005.
	Jobcentre Plus Direct, the National Benefit Fraud Hotline and the Pension Service do not collate information on the average speed of answering calls. The data provided for these helplines (x per cent. of calls answered in y seconds) is the closest comparable indicator.
	Failed calls are those that are not presented to the contact centre due to technical reasons, such as insufficient line capacity.
	
		
			 Helpline (a) Average speed of answer in seconds (percentage) (b) Failed calls (percentage) (c) Staff turnover (percentage) 
		
		
			 Pensions Direct 55.3 in 30 seconds 0.94 (25) 
			 Pension Information Orderline 94.6 in 30 seconds 1.66 (26)n/a 
			 Pension Guide Orderline 96.5 in 30 seconds 0 (26)n/a 
			 Pension Credit Application Line (Outsourced to Ventura) 45.6 in 30 seconds 1.12 (26)n/a 
			 Pension Centres 82.6 in 30 seconds 0.64 (27)1.26 
			 Retirement Pension Teleclaims 90.8 in 30 seconds 0 (27)1.52 
			 Retirement Pension Forecasting Team 50.6 in 30 seconds 0.74 n/a 
			 Winter Fuel Helpline 92.3 in 30 seconds 0 (27)0.27 
			 International Pension Centre 67.8 in 30 seconds 0 0.54 
			 Deficiency Notices 79.1 in 30 seconds 0 n/a 
			 Jobcentre Plus DirectJobseeker Direct 79.6 in 20 seconds n/a (28)1.97 
			 Jobcentre Plus DirectFirst Contact 75.1 in 20 seconds n/a  
			 National Benefit Fraud Hotline 91.72 in 3 seconds n/a (29)n/a 
			 Employer Direct 12 n/a 2.16 
			 CSA National Helpline 52 2 1.50 
			 Debt Management 30.75 0.45 1.36 
			 Benefit Enquiry Line 86 43 3.15 
			 Disability Living Allowance/Attendance Allowance 101 25 0.83 
		
	
	n/a = Not available.
	(25) Included in Retirement Pensions Teleclaims figures, a separate figure is not available.
	(26) These helplines are provided by an external contractor and are not staffed by DWP employees.
	(27) This represents the percentage of whole-time equivalent staff who left the Pension Service by resignation or termination only.
	(28) Information is not available separately for first contact and jobseeker direct, therefore a total figure has been provided for Jobcentre Plus Direct.
	(29) We do not have any information on staff turnover for NBFH, however we are taking steps to ensure this data is available in the future.

Child Support Agency

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to his oral evidence to the Work and Pensions Committee on 15 February 2006, if he will list the identified IT defects in the Child Support Agency computer system; and when he expects each to be resolved.

James Plaskitt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the chief executive, Stephen Geraghty. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
	Letter from Stephen Geraghty, dated 30 March 2006
	In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive.
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to his oral evidence to the Work and Pensions Committee on 15th February 2006 if he will list the identified IT defects in the Child Support Agency computer system; and when he expects each to be resolved.
	The timetable for resolution of these defects is part of the negotiated settlement with our supplier and we expect them to be resolved by the end of 2007.
	The attached table details the agreed defects.
	I hope you find this response helpful.
	
		
			 Category of business process Major process area Total defects 
		
		
			  Receiving the application 57 
			  Reactive migration 4 
			  Getting information 33 
			  Making the calculation 23 
			  Cancel/withdraw case 5 
			
			 Getting money flowing Arranging payment/compliance 80 
			  Receiving and allocating money 53 
			  Make payments out 18 
			  Accounting and client fund reporting 0 
			  Establishing collections 0 
			
			 Maintaining compliance Maintaining and reviewing customer data 59 
			  Debt management 14 
			
			 Handoffs and controls Handoff/auxiliary processes 6 
			  Work management and controls 5 
			  Data and file management 14 
			
			 Contacting and informing our clients Inform clients and find information 25 
			  Customer service complaints 0 
			
			 Migrate and convert Migration and conversion 3 
			
			 Business tools, notifications and technical issues Business tools 20 
			  Technical 60 
			  Notification 27 
			  Total 506

Child Support Agency

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what representations he has received on the impact on child poverty of the failure to collect maintenance payments through the Child Support Agency (CSA); and what immediate plans he has to improve CSA collection mechanisms.

James Plaskitt: The failure of non-resident parents to face up to their responsibilities and pay maintenance causes real hardship for their children. The Child Support Agency (CSA) does have powers to enforce payment of maintenance but this is an area where the Agency has not been sufficiently effective. The issue of enforcement appears regularly in correspondence we receive from parents and their representatives. Enforcement will be considered by Sir David Henshaw as part of his work to redesign the child support system.
	In the shorter term we have announced plans to improve collection of maintenance in the agency's operational improvement plan. The agency will be using deduction from earnings orders earlier and more frequently for those who either default on other payment arrangements or indicate that they are unlikely to pay. The agency will more actively manage higher risk cases to ensure payments are made and make more use of information held by HMRC and credit reference agencies to track down those who owe money for their children.
	The CSA will employ external debt collection agencies to recover outstanding debt and use their best practice to improve its own collection activity. Over 600 more staff will be trained and effective within the next year and staffing dedicated to enforcement activity quadrupled over the period of the plan. For those parents who continue to avoid paying maintenance we will significantly increase the number brought before the courts, securing debt through liability orders and seizing of assets where appropriate. We will also work with the media and stakeholders to develop a campaign to make clear that failing to pay maintenance has real and lasting consequences for children.
	The cumulative effect of all of these measures will lead to more maintenance being paid and more children lifted out of poverty.

Customer Performance Targets

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions which of his Department's customer performance targets are being missed on the basis of the latest available information; and if he will make a statement.

James Plaskitt: The Department for Work and Pensions businesses each publish customer service performance targets. Their performance against current published targets is as follows. Information on the Rent Service and Health and Safety Executive has not been included, as they do not deal with individual customers.
	Jobcentre Plus exceeded its 81 per cent. customer service target in 20042005, achieving 83.2 per cent. Its performance the year to date to the end of September 2005 is 84.8 per cent.
	The Pension Service has two Customer Service targets:
	That 92 per cent. of telephone calls to Centres in 200506 are answered by an agent. Current performance for the year-to-date to the end of October is 95.2 per cent.
	That the percentage of calls to main 0845/0800 numbers receiving an engaged tone or message must be less than 1 per cent. in 200506. Current performance in the year-to-date to the end of October is 1.0 per cent.
	The Child Support Agency has four customer outcome targets:
	Case compliancechild maintenance and/or arrears will be collected where there is a maintenance liability due to be paid through the collection service from 78 per cent. of new scheme and 75 per cent. of old scheme cases by the end of the reporting year. Current performance in the year to date to the end of September 2005 is 66 per cent. for new scheme and 72 per cent. for old scheme.
	Cash complianceto collect 75 per cent. of new scheme, and 68 per cent. of old scheme, child maintenance and/or arrears where there is a maintenance liability due to be paid through the collection service by the end of the reporting year. Current performance for the year to date to the end of September 2005 for old scheme is 71 per cent. and for new scheme is 61 per cent.
	Accuracyfor the last action for all assessments on the old scheme checked in the year to be correct to the nearest penny in 80 per cent. of cases, and for the last decision for all new scheme maintenance calculations to be correct to the nearest penny in 90 per cent. of cases. Current performance for the year to date to the end of September 2005 for the old scheme is 80 per cent. and for new scheme is 83 per cent.
	Debt/ArrearsTo collect arrears equivalent to 30 per cent. of the amount accruing over the reporting period. At the end of September 2005, performance was currently exceeding the target at 36 per cent.
	The Disability and Carers Service has three Customer Service Measurements, with 100 per cent. targets. The performance for the year-to-date to the end of September 2005 is:
	99 per cent. of customers without an appointment were seen within 10 minutes of arrival.
	96 per cent. of customers received a full or substantive reply to written queries within 10 working days.
	97 per cent. of calls to the switchboard and 99 per cent. of direct dial calls were answered within 30 seconds and 99 per cent. of calls to the switchboard and 87 per cent. of direct dial calls were answered with the standard greeting and a name given.
	The Appeals Service has four customer service standards:
	We will reply to general enquiries by post, email and fax as soon as we can and 85 per cent. within 10 working days. For the period April to end of November 2005, sampling exercises have shown that we replied to 90 per cent. of correspondence with 10 working days.
	We will respond to 85 per cent. of complaints and Ministerial correspondence within 15 working days. If we cannot, we will advise when we are able to do so together with the name and contact details of the person dealing with the response. For the period April to end of November 2005, we replied to 91 per cent. of administrative complaints within the 15 working day standard.
	We will answer the telephone within 30 seconds in 95 per cent. of cases. A sample exercise showed that we answered 98 per cent. of telephone calls within 30 seconds between April and November 2005.
	We aim to acknowledge arrival at the tribunal venue and the clerk will meet the appellant not less than five minutes before the hearing time to explain the procedure. A sample survey of appellants in January/February 2005 showed that 99 per cent. who attended a hearing were met not less than five minutes before the hearing time and had the procedure explained to them.
	An update on Departmental performance was provided in our Annual Performance Report, which was published in the House in December 2005.

Departmental Costs/Staff

Alex Salmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the (a) salary bill was and (b) administrative costs were for his Department in (i) each (A) nation and (B) region of the UK and (ii) London in 200405.

James Plaskitt: The administration budgets regime overseen by the Treasury relates to Whitehall Departments only. How administration costs are controlled in the Devolved Administrations is a matter for them. Treasury do not monitor regional or central London administration costs separately.
	The most recent Public Expenditure Outturn White Paper (CMD 6639) has information for provisional 200405 departmental administration costs outturn and the Departmental Report (CMD 6539) contains estimated 200405 pay bill outturn.

Departmental Costs/Staff

Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much was spent on involuntary and voluntary staff exit schemes in (a) the Department and (b) each agency of the Department in each year since 199798; and if he will make a statement.

Anne McGuire: holding answer 28 November 2005
	Amounts spent by the Department on staff exit schemes since 199798 are set out in the table. The Department for Work and Pensions was formed in June 2001 from the Department of Social Security and parts of the former Department for Education and Employment including the Employment Service. Figures shown prior to financial year 200102 relate only to the former Department of Social Security.
	
		
			   million 
		
		
			 199798 76.7 
			 199899 20.5 
			 199900 20.2 
			 200001 21.6 
			 200102 18.4 
			 200203 19.4 
			 200304 16.1 
			 200405 14.9 
		
	
	An analysis of the amounts spent by individual Agency is only available since the formation of the Department for Work and Pensions in 200102. Figures are set out in the following table.
	
		
			   million 
			  200102 200203 200304 200405 
		
		
			 Benefits Agency 1.73 n/a n/a n/a 
			 The Pensions Service n/a 0.20 0.19 1.29 
			 Child Support Agency 1.40 0.83 0.82 0.84 
			 War Pensions Agency 0.00 n/a n/a n/a 
			 Disability and Carers Service n/a n/a n/a 0.00 
			 The Appeals Service 0.20 0.15 0.17 0.20 
			 Jobcentre Plus 0.00 0.00 0.18 0.55 
			 Health  Safety  Executive n/a 2.08 0.65 0.75 
			 The Rent Service n/a n/a n/a 1.70 
			 Corporate Centre 15.03 16.17 14.11 9.58 
			  18.36 19.43 16.12 14.91 
		
	
	Note:
	n/a denotes that the Agency did not exist as an entity of the Department for the year in question.
	Although not an Agency, the Corporate Centre has also borne the cost of exit schemes when staff working within the Corporate Centre e.g. Group Finance, HR areas have left the Department. Responsibility for exit scheme payments of the former Benefits Agency also transferred to the Corporate Centre when the Agency ceased to exist.
	The Department is unable to provide a breakdown of these figures between voluntary and involuntary exit schemes.

Energy Efficiency

Nadine Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he is taking to increase energy efficiency within his Department; and if he will make a statement.

James Plaskitt: The Department for Work and Pensions is fully committed to improving its energy efficiency in line with the Framework for Sustainable Development on the Government Estate. We are working in collaboration with our PFI Estates Partners, Land Securities Trillium, to install energy efficient equipment across the estate under our 'Spend to Save' investment scheme (including PIR lighting and water boiler controls, extra insulation and fridge/cooler controllers). We also maximise energy efficiency during the life-cycle replacement of plant and equipment. To complement this, a national awareness campaign to encourage all members of staff to play their part is ongoing, and the Department is working with the Carbon Trust under its Carbon Management Programme.
	To further reduce CO 2 emissions, the Department has increased to 60 per cent. the percentage of electricity purchased from renewable sources such as wind power and Combined Heat and Power.
	Progress against targets is reported in the DWP Sustainable Development Annual Report which was published in December 2005. A copy of this can be found on the DWP website at: http://www.dwp.gov.uk/sus-dev/2005/sus-dev05.pdf.

Financial Assistance Scheme

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the administrative costs of the Financial Assistance Scheme have been in each year since its creation, including the costs of consultants and advisers.

Stephen Timms: The information is in the table.
	
		Financial assistance scheme administrative costs
		
			million 
			  200405 200506 
		
		
			 Net costs 1.060 4.115 
			 Consultants 0 0.135 
			 Total costs 1.060 4.250

Home Computing Initiative

David Gauke: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the cost to the Department was of offering its staff participation in the Home Computing Initiative.

Anne McGuire: The Department for Work and Pensions had intended to launch a Home Computing Initiative in the winter of 2006, following implementation of a new payroll system. The only costs incurred have been the internal staff costs on the early stages of the project, which we estimate to be around 47,000.

Invalidity Benefit

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many recipients of invalidity benefit had their benefit reduced in each of the last five years; for what reasons in each case; and if he will make a statement.

Anne McGuire: Invalidity benefit was replaced by incapacity benefit in April 1995. There are a number of reasons why an award of incapacity benefit may be reduced. These include where a claimant has occupational pension income above 85 per week, where a claimant starts work which is not within the permitted work limits where a claimant's spouse's earnings increase to a point which extinguishes entitlement to an adult dependency increase, where a claimant is in hospital and where Child Support Agency payments are deducted from benefit. In addition in areas where Jobcentre Plus is rolled-out and in Pathways to Work pilot areas incapacity benefit can also be reduced where a sanction is applied following non-compliance with the conditionality requirements of the benefit. The vast majority of cases have more than one reason for a deduction and it is not possible to disaggregate the information about all these reductions.
	
		Number of recipients with reductions made from incapacity benefit -- Thousand
		
			 As at August each year All recipients All reductions 
		
		
			 2001 1,581.5 338.7 
			 2002 1,587.7 341.6 
			 2003 1,574.8 330.9 
			 2004 1,549.5 294.7 
			 2005 1,500.6 272.4 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. All recipients data is produced from WPLS 100 per cent. data. Rate reductions data has been produced from five per cent. sample data and rated up in accordance with WPLS totals.
	2. Figures are rounded to the nearest hundred and expressed in thousands.
	3. Figures may not sum due to rounding.
	4. 'Beneficiaries' figures exclude SDA and IB credits only cases.
	Source:
	DWP Information Directorate, Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study 100 per cent. and five per cent. sample data.

Learning Disability

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will work with the voluntary sector to develop a common definition of learning disability to be used (a) by Jobcentre Plus and (b) for future monitoring.

Anne McGuire: The Department currently classifies customers with learning difficulties within the category of 'Mental and behavioural disorders' using the criteria internationally agreed in the ICD-10 (International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, Tenth Revision). At the moment we are unable to separate these data further into more specific conditions, but we are looking into the feasibility of doing so in future.
	The National Benefits database therefore contains information on customers' periods of time on benefit and also records the associated health condition or disability using the ICD10 criteria.
	Not everyone with a disability identifies themselves in the same way, nor do they have the same support needs, even if they are diagnosed with the same disability or health condition. Jobcentre Plus personal advisers are trained to discuss with each customer the affect their disability has on them and help them to identify the support most appropriate to them as an individual.
	Jobcentre Plus collects a minimum of information about its customers, commensurate with the need to manage programmes and to better meet the needs of the customer. Collecting information about customers' health conditions or disabilities cannot always be relied upon to yield accurate information and even if it did, the information is not always relevant to the job finding process. In the interests of minimizing bureaucracy, and because we prefer to see each customer as an
	individual with individual needs, we do not consider it appropriate for Jobcentre Plus to routinely ask customers for information which some might regard as unnecessarily intrusive.
	However, as a result of changes made recently following consultation with Mencap, from 2006 information on learning disability and on learning difficulty will be identified separately for the Labour Force Survey. Until now, information about people with a learning disability or learning difficulty has been combined into one category. These data are collected independently of the information in the National Benefits database.

Ministerial Activities

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many (a) public speeches and (b) official visits (i) he and (ii) his predecessor made on departmental business since 5 May 2005; and how many letters he and his predecessor sent in that period.

John Hutton: Since the 5 May 2005 my predecessor made 19 public speeches and 18 official visits. I have made 14 public speeches and seven official visits. All speeches and visits were conducted in accordance with the ministerial code. The official visits figures do not include departmental visits without an external dimension.
	The number of letters sent could be provided only at disproportionate cost. The Cabinet Office, on an annual basis, publishes a report to Parliament on the performance of departments in replying to Members/Peers correspondence. The Report for 2004 was published on 6 April 2005, Official Report, columns 137140WS. Reports for earlier years are available in the Library of the House. The report for 2005 will be published in due course.

Myalgic Encephalomyelitis

John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many individuals diagnosed with myalgic encephalomyelitis are in receipt of disability living allowance (DLA); and how many such individuals were refused DLA in (a) 2003, (b) 2004 and (c) 2005.

Anne McGuire: The available information is in the table. Information is not kept about the main disabling condition in unsuccessful claims to disability living allowance.
	
		Number(30) of people receiving disability living allowance at 31 August in each of the years from 2003 to 2005 whose main disabling condition was recorded as chronic fatigue syndromesincluding myalgic encephalomyelitis/post viral
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 2003 14,800 
			 2004 16,300 
			 2005 17,500 
		
	
	(30) Figures are in thousands, rounded to the nearest 100, and exclude cases where payment of the allowance has been suspended because, for example, the person is a hospital in-patient.
	Source:
	DWP Information Directorate: Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study.

Pensions

Vera Baird: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will take steps to make state pension accrual easier for those in part-time work.

Stephen Timms: The Government welcome the broad framework of the Pensions Commission's second report which has set out a number of recommendations for the long-term reform of pensions. The Commission's report along with the report Women and Pensions: The evidence have formed the basis for the National Pensions Debate.
	As part of the debate, we are considering a range of options to help people build up better state pension entitlement, including whether we can do more for part-time workers. In taking forward proposals for reform we will be guided by the five tests we have set out: any changes must promote personal responsibility, be fair to women and carers in particular, and be affordable, simpler to understand, and sustainable. At this stage, the Government are ruling nothing in and nothing out.
	We will be considering the feedback from the National Pensions Debate as we work towards national consensus and the publication of a White Paper on pensions reform in the spring.

Pensions

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his estimate is of the annual cost of extending the Pension Protection Fund compensation terms to all those who have lost their occupational pensions since 1997 and whose cases are covered by the parliamentary ombudsman's recent report on occupational pensions.

Stephen Timms: We estimate that the gross average annual cost of extending the Pension Protection Fund compensation terms to all those covered by the parliamentary ombudsman's report would average 160 million per year in cash terms over some 60 years. Annual costs would vary over time peaking at 300 million around the year 2030.

Pensions

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to his answer of 3 November 2005, Official Report, column 1359W, to the hon. Member for Tamworth (Mr. Jenkins), on pensions, what progress has been made towards making an estimate of the number of people who have lost their pensions due to firm insolvency since 1997; and whether this information is available for each (a) constituency and (b) region.

Stephen Timms: We estimate that since 1997 around 125,000 people have lost some part of their pension due to the insolvency of the sponsoring employer or where the employer no longer exists. We are now collecting information from pension schemes applying to the financial assistance scheme (FAS), which will enable us to provide actual data on the number of affected members in eligible schemes. However, as this information can only be provided by the pension scheme when close to winding up, it is likely to be some time before we have sufficient data to provide robust figures for each constituency and region.
	As explained in my previous answer, based on our most recent data collection for the FAS, we know of around 70,000 non-pensioner members (in 380 schemes) that are potentially eligible for assistance from the FAS as a result of their schemes being wound up in circumstances of insolvency or where the employer no longer exists. In addition to these members we anticipate that a few hundred more schemes, including around 50,000 non-pensioner members and a small number of pensioner members, could come forward and be eligible for assistance. Some of these members may have suffered limited losses and would therefore not be eligible for FAS.

Pensions

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what meetings the Secretary of State has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer since 30 November 2005 to discuss future policy in relation to pensions; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Timms: My right hon. Friends the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions speak regularly about a wide range of policy issues.

Pensions

Alan Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the annual cost of implementing the Ombudsman's recommendations set out in his report Trusting in the Pensions Promise.

Stephen Timms: We estimate that the gross average annual cost of restoring pensions in full to all those covered by the parliamentary ombudsman's report would be 250 million in cash terms over some 60 years. Annual costs would vary over time peaking at 400 million around the year 2030.

Pensions

Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what role the parliamentary ombudsman will play in negotiations on failed occupational pension schemes; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Timms: None. The ombudsman's remit is to investigate matters referred to her and report her findings to Parliament, rather than negotiation about public policy. With regard to the ombudsman's recent report on the security of final salary occupational pensions, I refer the hon. Member to my statement made on 15 March 2006, Official Report, columns 10002WS.

Pensions

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many events were organised by non-governmental organisations to complement events organised by his Department to mark Pensions Day on 18 March 2006.

Stephen Timms: This information is not available, but over 200 stakeholder packs have been downloaded from the National Pensions Debate website.

Post Office Card Account

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the basis was for his Department's calculation that the cost of making a pension or benefit payment into a Post Office card account is 1.

James Plaskitt: The calculation that the current cost of making a payment into the Post Office card account is about 1 is based on the commercially confidential arrangements held between the Post Office and my Department.

Post Office Card Account

Nadine Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average cost is of a transaction through a Post Office card account; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Timms: Currently the average cost to my Department of making a payment into a Post Office card account is approximately 1.00. compared to 0.01 into a bank or building society account.

Post Office Card Account

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions why the contract for the Post Office card account between the Department and Post Office Ltd. prohibits the Post Office from (a) publicising the benefits of the card and (b) marketing its use without the approval of the Department.

James Plaskitt: The contract for Post Office card account services was jointly negotiated between Post Office Ltd. and DWP. Post Office Ltd. agreed the controls on publicity and marketing. They are designed to help ensure that the Post Office card account meets its objectives and that customers receive accurate and consistent information to help them choose the account which best meets their needs and circumstances.
	The Department and Post Office Ltd. have agreed a considerable amount of publicity and marketing for the Post Office card account, including references in Post Office leaflets and in-branch posters, as well as a section on the Post Office's own website.

Post Office Card Account

Edward Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what advice is provided to those interested in switching from the Post Office account card to direct payment into a bank account; and whether particular banks are recommended by the telephone operators on the advice line to those inquiring about switching to direct payment.

James Plaskitt: Most customers who move from having their payments made into a Post Office card account simply supply the Department with the details of their nominated bank or building society account. Our staff are able to give customers information about bank and building society accounts if customers ask for it, including those accounts which can be used at Post Office branches. Our staff do not recommend any particular bank or building societythat decision is for the customer to make.

Post Office Card Account

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will list the (a) public documents, (b) web pages and (c) standard letters sent to hon. Members and constituents in which he has referred to the interim nature of the Post Office card account and which were published before 1 October 2005; which referred to a date by which the Post Office card account would be withdrawn; and if he will place copies in the Library.

James Plaskitt: We have always made clear that the limited features of the Post Office card account meant that payment into a bank or building society account was likely to be the best option for the vast majority of our customers. This was set out in the response from my right hon. Friend, the Member for Paisley and Renfrewshire, South (Mr. Alexander) to the then hon. Member for Kettering (Phil Sawford) on 17 December 2001, Official Report, columns 11920W.
	The Government has a wider financial inclusion agenda to increase the number of people who own, and use, bank accounts. While the Post Office card account provides some customers with a useful stepping stone towards mainstream banking it does not amount to full financial inclusion. This was set out in Promoting Financial Inclusion issued on 2 December 2004 along with the Chancellor's pre Budget report.
	In his reply to the then Member for Perth (Annabel Ewing) on 4 February 2005, Official Report, column 1196W, my predecessor Chris Pond stated that the Post Office card account contract would end on 31 March 2010. The Government will provide funding for the Post Office card account until then as always planned.
	Copies of Promoting Financial Inclusion and relevant copies of Hansard are already in the Library.

Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of members of the principal civil service pension scheme in his Department joined the scheme before the age of (a) 20, (b) 25, (c) 30, (d) 35, (e) 40, (f) 45 and (g) over 45 years old.

Anne McGuire: The information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Unemployment (Wirral)

Stephen Hesford: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many unemployed people over 50 years of age have been assisted back to work in (a) Wirral West and (b) Wirral borough since 1997.

Margaret Hodge: Information on the number of people aged 50 and over in Wirral, West and the Wirral metropolitan borough who have been helped into work through all the programmes available to them is not available.
	Information on the number of people aged 50 and over who have been helped into work though the new deal 50 plus programme is in the table.
	
		New deal 50 plus
		
			 Location People into jobs 
		
		
			 Wirral, West constituency 260 
			 Wirral metropolitan borough 1,180 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. New deal 50 plus was introduced in April 2000.
	2. Latest data are to November 2005.
	3. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10.
	Source:
	DWP Information Directorate

Workers from EU Accession Countries

Ian Davidson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  how many workers from EU accession countries who have signed up with the Worker Registration Scheme are claiming in-work benefits; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  how many workers from EU accession countries are claiming benefits to which they were not previously entitled because they have completed 52 weeks registration under the Worker Registration Scheme; how many are claiming each benefit; what the total cost has been of each benefit thus claimed; what the total cost of all benefit claims by individuals from EU accession countries since 1 May 2004 has been; and if he will make a statement.

James Plaskitt: The information is not available.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Affordable Housing (Birmingham)

John Hemming: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the terms of reference are of his inquiry into affordable housing in Birmingham; and whether (a) officers and (b) members of Birmingham city council will be consulted during the inquiry.

Yvette Cooper: The aim of the inquiry about provision of affordable housing in Birmingham was to establish how the city council could achieve optimal affordable housing outputs from the Government subsidy provided from the Regional Housing Board Affordable Housing Programme allocations in the immediate future and over the longer term.
	The Housing Corporation has reported to me that it has discussed with Birmingham city council the effect of land costs for housing associations on the 200608 Affordable Housing Programme as there were concerns that high land costs were delaying housing associations from planning new social housing in the city. I understand that the Housing Corporation and Birmingham city council have made significant progress with regards to land costs and improving value for money which has resulted in an increase in the new homes that can be provided through the Housing Corporation's Affordable Housing Programme for 200608.
	There remains a concern about the council's longer term approach as it progresses its plans to dispose of surplus housing land to provide new affordable homes or other community facilities. I therefore have asked officials in Government office west midlands to continue to investigate with the city council its approach to the sale of housing land, and the implications of this for the provision of affordable housing and wider neighbourhood regeneration in the city in the long term.

Civil Contingencies

Robert Syms: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what steps he is taking to ensure that local authorities fulfil their duties under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004; and what guidance he has issued on such duties.

Jim Murphy: I have been asked to reply.
	Part 1 of the Civil Contingencies Act 2004most of which came fully into force on 14 November 2005establishes a statutory framework for civil protection arrangements at the local level. The Act sets out clear roles and responsibilities for local responders (including local authorities) establishing a basis for effective performance assessment. The Act's accompanying regulations (Contingency Planning 2005) set out the detail of the new legislative framework providing a clear set of standards for responders to meet. The supporting statutory guidance Emergency Preparedness describes in more detail how these standards can be met. It sets out the requirements of the Act and provides advice on good practice.
	The performance of responders against the requirements set out in the Act is assessed by their existing performance assessment frameworks. English local authorities' performance is assessed by the Audit Commission through the comprehensive performance assessment (CPA) process. The performance of local authorities in Wales is assessed by the Wales Audit Office.
	The Scottish Executive is responsible for making regulations and issuing guidance, under the Act, to local authorities in Scotland. In Northern Ireland, local authorities are subject to the non-statutory Northern Ireland civil contingencies framework.

Civil Contingencies

Robert Syms: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what estimate he has made of the cost of the additional duties placed on local authorities by the Civil Contingencies Act 2004; and what proportion of these costs have been met from central funds.

Jim Murphy: I have been asked to reply.
	As a part of Spending Review 2004, Government officials worked closely with the Local Government Association to build up a detailed assessment of the costs facing local authorities in fulfilling their civil protection activities, including the requirements of the Civil Contingencies Act.
	As a result of the Spending Review, the Government more than doubled its contribution to the cost of local authorities' civil protection work, providing 40.7 million for local authorities in England and Wales in each of the years covered by the review200506, 200607, 200708. This uplift in funding was welcomed by the Local Government Association.

Civil Servants

Stewart Hosie: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many senior civil servants are employed in (a) his Department and (b) its agencies.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The number of staff in the senior civil service (SCS) in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister HQ and its agencies at 31 December 2005 is shown in the following table. The figures include staff on paid and unpaid maternity leave and staff on outward loan and secondment.
	
		
			 Organisation Number of staff in SCS 
		
		
			 ODPM (C) 145 
			 Government Offices 49 
			 Planning Inspectorate 5 
			 QEII Conference Centre 1 
			 Fire Service College 2 
			 Total 202

Civil Servants

Eric Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will list the meetings that civil servants from his Department have had with local authority (a) staff and (b) representatives in the last 12 months; and which councils attended each meeting.

Jim Fitzpatrick: Civil servants in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister hold meetings with local authority staff and representatives on a wide range of subjects. This information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Councillors' Interests

Owen Paterson: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what definition he uses of a (a) prejudicial interest and (b) personal interest of an elected councillor.

Phil Woolas: The model code of conduct for local authority members, issued as a statutory instrument in 2001, sets out the circumstances in which a member must regard himself or herself as having a personal and a prejudicial interest in a matter. Interpretation of these provisions is ultimately a matter for the courts.
	The Standards Board for England has published guidance for councillors relating to the code, including the provisions relating to personal and prejudicial interests.

Empty Dwelling Management Orders

Anne Main: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment he has made of the merits of including commercial properties within the scope of Empty Dwelling Management Orders; and if he will make a statement.

Yvette Cooper: Converting unoccupied commercial property to housing entails a change of use which would require the consent of the freeholder or leaseholder of the property. While the Government is keen to encourage conversion of redundant commercial property for which residential use may be practical, we recognise that the economic drivers that determine conversion projects differ from the reuse of vacant residential property. We have not assessed the implications of applying the same approach to commercial properties.
	Any extension to the powers in the Housing Act 2004 would require new primary legislation.

Environmental Sustainability

Vera Baird: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what environmentally sustainable features he requires to be installed in new public buildings.

Yvette Cooper: On 15 March 2006, the improvements to the energy efficiency standards set out in part L of the Building Regulations was laid in Parliament. The part L changes come into effect in April 2006 and will make a major contribution to the UK's commitment to combat climate change delivering increased energy standards of up to 27 per cent. for new buildings.
	We have just completed the consultation on the proposed Code for Sustainable Homes, which is a voluntary scheme being developed with industry and will set environmental performance standards for energy and water efficiency that are higher than those stipulated by regulation.
	From April 2006 we will require all new homes built by the resident social landlords with Housing Corporation funding to comply with level 3 of the code. This will also apply to homes developed by the English Partnership and all others receiving Government funding.

Greater Manchester

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether he plans to introduce an (a) elected and (b) appointed structure of county-wide governance for Greater Manchester; and if he will make a statement.

Phil Woolas: Representatives from Manchester city-region (including AGMA), are due to present their business case to David Miliband this week. This is expected to set out their vision for the city-region and outline their key proposals to promote economic and social performance, which includes options for devolved decision making. Further business case presentations are also due from other core cities during the next few months.
	The office will continue to engage with cities and other Government Departments to further develop the ideas and will develop responses which draw on the business case proposals and inform our thinking ahead of the forthcoming local government White Paper.

Home Information Packs

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the timetable is for laying the Home Information Pack Regulations 2006 before Parliament.

Yvette Cooper: We are planning to lay the Home Information Pack Content Regulations before Parliament in June 2006. Regulations relating to Home Information Pack forms and access to the register of Home Condition Reports will be laid later in the year following some trialling of the forms and discussions with the industry.

Housing

Sarah Teather: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many new social homes have been (a) granted planning permission, (b) started and (c) completed in each year since 1997.

Yvette Cooper: Information on the number of new social homes granted planning permission is not held centrally.
	The number of registered social landlord and local authority dwellings for rent started and completed as reported by building control can be found on the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's website:
	http://www.odpm.gov.uk/pub/36/Table204Excel31Kb_id1156036.xls
	For the total supply of social homes including new build and acquisitions, as reported by the Housing Corporation, I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Yeovil (Mr. Laws) on 21 March 2006, Official Report, column 279W.
	The Government have announced a 3.9 billion programme through the Housing Corporation for the next two years which includes 35,000 low cost home ownership home and 49,000 social rented homes. This is part of a programme to increase the level of new social housing by 50 per cent. by 200708 against 200405 levels.

Housing

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many (a) council owned, (b) privately owned, (c) housing association owned and (d) arm's length management organisation managed properties in each London borough do not have an indoor toilet; and if he will make a statement.

Yvette Cooper: The Department does not collect this information from local authorities and there are too few homes without indoor toilets in the housing stock as a whole to make a robust estimate from housing surveys. The English House Condition Survey estimates that around 200,000 homes in England are missing at least one of the five basic amenities (these are: kitchen sink; bath or shower in a bathroom; wash hand basin; hot and cold water supply; indoor toilet). These are mainly properties that were being renovated at the time of the survey and a few isolated rural homes.

Housing

Ben Wallace: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many new homes he expects to be built in (a) Lancaster and Wyre and (b) Lancashire in (i) 200607 and (ii) each of the following five years.

Yvette Cooper: It is not possible to be specific about numbers of homes expected to be built each year. The Joint Lancashire Structure Plan makes provision for the following annual average number of dwellings each year until 2016:
	
		
			  Number of dwellings 
		
		
			 Lancaster 320 
			 Wyre 205 
			 Lancashire (31)2,380 
		
	
	(31) Of which the Lancaster and Wyre figures are a subset.
	It is for local planning authorities to monitor and manage dwellings actually built and planning permissions granted.

Housing

Jacqui Lait: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what discussions he has had with the relevant water companies on their capacity to supply all the projected new homes in London and the South East.

Yvette Cooper: The Deputy Prime Minister has not held discussions with the water companies on these issues. However, Baroness Andrews met the water companies, the Environment Agency and Ofwat on 7 March this year at a seminar organised by ODPM at which these issues were discussed.

Housing

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the (a) reserves and (b) pre-tax financial position was of each housing association in the latest period for which figures are available.

Yvette Cooper: The figures for (a) reserves and (b) pre-tax financial position of each housing association registered with the Housing Corporation for periods ending in 200405 have been placed in the Library of the House. The total figures for the period 200405 for those RSLs with over 250 units disclosed in their accounts are (a) reserves at 11.8 billion and (b) pre-tax financial position at 443 million. The figures for those RSLs with less than 250 units are (a) reserves at 1.1 billion and (b) pre-tax financial position at 63 million. The reserves total reflects revenue reserves and revaluation reserves.

Housing

Sarah Teather: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many homes have been built for key workers under each of the (a) Intermediate Rent, (b) Homebuy New Build and (c) Mixed Funded for Sale programmes; how many have been sold or let under each programme; and in cases where homes have remained empty how long they have been empty, broken down by local authority.

Yvette Cooper: As at the end of February 2006, 2,817 homes have been built through the Key Worker Living Programme; 1,424 for Intermediate Rent of which 1,201 have been let; and 1,393 for low cost home ownership of which 615 have been sold. 45 per cent. of the homes that have not been let or sold were completed in the past 3 months. I will send the hon. Member a breakdown of the number of empty properties by local authority since October 2005.

Housing

Andrew Love: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much of the capital receipts from right-to-buy sales in debt-free local authorities will be centrally pooled in (a) 200506, (b) 200607 and (c) 200708.

Yvette Cooper: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister does not estimate future right-to-buy receipts but does estimate future total housing capital receipts (which include right-to-buy figures). Estimates are subject to a number of volatile factors such as the state of the housing market, lending rates, amounts of disposable income and stock condition, and are kept under constant review.
	ODPM's estimate is as follows:
	
		
			  Debt-free authorities' housing receipts pooled ( million) 
		
		
			 200506 52 
			 200607 72 
			 200708 88 
		
	
	Since 1997 the Government have consistently invested more in housing than it has received in pooled receipts. In 200405 the amount paid to Government from all housing receipts (not just right-to-buy) was 1.7 billion. The amount invested in housing was 4.1 billion i.e. almost 2 times the amount. The ratio of amount invested to amount of pooled receipts is expected to increase substantially in the future.

Housing

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the total debt on council housing was in (a) 1980, (b) 2000 and (c) 2005; and how much has been (i) paid and (ii) written off.

Yvette Cooper: The total debt attributed to council housing in 1980 is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	In 200001 the total debt was 17.6 billion. This has now fallen to an estimated 13.3 billion, although that figure may vary between now and when the final figure for the 200506 financial year is known. With the exception of 1.8 billion in 'overhanging debt' payments made by government, the reduction of 4.3 billion has been due to repayments made by local authorities. ('Overhanging debt' is the debt an authority is unable to repay from the receipt it gets on the transfer of its stock to a housing association. Debt repayment is the first call on such receipts. Where the outstanding debt exceeds the receipt, the Government pays off the excess amount of debtthe overhanging debt. The Government chooses to repay such debt rather than continuing to support that debtas had happened previously through the allowance made for debt service charges in the Housing Revenue Account subsidy system. The choice between paying off overhanging debt and continuing to support the debt through subsidy is intended to be broadly neutral in net financial terms for the authority.)

Housing

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how the proceeds from the sale of council houses are allocated.

Yvette Cooper: A council is required to pay to the Government (i.e. pool) 75 per cent. of its receipts (less its costs and various allowances) from right to buy sales or any other scheme where the tenant intends to use the property as their principal dwelling. It may keep the remaining 25 per cent. to spend on capital purposes.
	Councils that were debt free on 31 March 2004 benefit from a transitional regime following the introduction of pooling from April 2004. In 200405 they were allowed to keep 75 per cent. of the amount they would otherwise have been required to pool; in 200506 50 per cent. and in 200607 25 per cent.
	Since 1997 the Government have consistently invested more in housing than it has received in pooled capital receipts. In 200405 the amount paid to Government from all housing receipts (not just right to buy) was 1.7 billion. The amount invested in housing was 4.1 billion i.e. almost 2  times the amount. The ratio of amount invested to amount set aside is expected to increase substantially in the future.
	Pooled capital receipts collected from debt-free and with-debt authorities are treated differently. Pooled capital receipts from debt-free authorities, that is, local authorities that had no long term outstanding borrowing on 31 March 2004 come to the ODPM, where they are used to support sustainable communities projects such as new social housing and decent homes. Pooled capital receipts from debt-free authorities, that is, local authorities that had long term outstanding borrowing on 31 March 2004 go to the Treasury, where they are recycled as investment, for instance as capital investment in housing as described above.
	If the disposal of the council house is not to somebody who intends to use it as their principal dwelling and is not through the right to buy, the local authority may use their capital allowance to extinguish up to 100 per cent. of the capital receipt for use on the provision of affordable housing or regeneration within the local authority. In 20042005, 23 8 million of capital receipts were extinguished in this way for retention by local authorities.

Housing

Stephen Hammond: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many units of shared equity housing have been made available in Merton in each year since 1980.

Yvette Cooper: The numbers of shared equity properties sold in Merton in each year since 199798 are listed in the following table.
	
		
			  Number shared equity housing 
		
		
			 199798 16 
			 199899 12 
			 19992000 38 
			 200001 33 
			 200102 18 
			 200203 7 
			 200304 36 
			 200405 58 
		
	
	Source:
	Housing Corporation

Housing

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what proportion of total right to buy revenues was taken from councils in 200405; and how much in usable receipts was kept by them.

Yvette Cooper: A council is required to pay to the Government (i.e. pool) 75 per cent. of its receipts from right to buy sales (less its costs and various allowances). It may keep the remaining 25 per cent. to spend on capital purposes.
	Councils that were debt free on 31 March 2004 benefit from a transitional regime following the introduction of pooling from April 2004. In 200405 they were allowed to keep 75 per cent. of the amount they would otherwise have been required to pool; in 200506 50 per cent. and in 200607 25 per cent.
	Since 1997 the Government have consistently invested more in housing than it has received in pooled capital receipts. In 200405 the amount paid to Government from all housing receipts (not just right to buy) was 1.7 billion. The amount invested in housing was 4.1 billion i.e. almost 2 times the amount. The ratio of amount invested to amount set aside is expected to increase substantially in the future.

Housing

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what plans he has to introduce an investment allowance for council housing as proposed by his Department in 2002.

Yvette Cooper: The Investment Allowance was one of a number of options for radical change consulted on in the Office's August 2002 consultation paper The Way Forward for Housing Capital Finance. The aim of the paper was to solicit views on simplifying and enhancing the capital financing regime.
	Only 20 per cent. of local authorities expressed an interest in the allowance and then primarily as an avenue for securing additional funding rather than as a mechanism for delivering existing levels of funding.
	Capital financing is provided through a range of different routes, including the Major Repairs Allowance, the Regional Housing Pot and Capital Receipts Initiative. The proposals for an Investment Allowance were included for discussion at that time simply to stimulate consideration of whether the delivery of existing resources could be simplified.
	The Government decided, because of the low and qualified level of support to respond by introducing on 1 April 2004, new housing capital finance arrangements, the Prudential Borrowing regime, which allows local authorities to determine for themselves what they can afford to borrow above borrowing supported by central Government, supported from their own resources.
	This has provided greater flexibility for local authority borrowing.

Lancashire County Council (Planning Appeals)

Nigel Evans: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many (a) successful and (b) unsuccessful appeals have been made against planning decisions made by Lancashire county council in each year since 1997.

Yvette Cooper: Records held by the Planning Inspectorate for Lancashire county council go back to 2000 only. The following table shows the number of appeals (a) allowed/successful and (b) dismissed/unsuccessful and the total number decided.
	
		
			  (a) Number of appeals allowed (b) Number of appeals dismissed Total number of appeals 
		
		
			 2000 4 2 6 
			 2004 1 2 3 
			 2005 0 1 1

Local Government Inspection

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what changes the Government is making to local government inspection.

Phil Woolas: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister consultation document Inspection Reform: The Future of Local Services Inspection invites discussion on the future role that inspection should play within a more flexible performance framework, and seeks views on the establishment of a local services inspectorate. This is part of the wider work being carried out across Government to reduce the amount of inspection and to rationalise the number of inspectorates from 11 to four, which will enable better co-ordination and reduce duplication.
	The consultation closed on 3 March 2006, and we are now considering the responses, which will help to formulate future policy decisions on the shape of local government inspection.

Local Government Restructuring

Eric Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister pursuant to the answer of 16 February 2006, Official Report, column 2240W, on local government restructuring, if he will list the councils with which members of his Department had meetings on the six separate occasions since December 2005.

Phil Woolas: An invitation to attend a meeting with Office of the Deputy Prime Minister officials to discuss governance and structures was extended to the chief executives of all county, district and unitary (other than London borough and metropolitan district) councils. A total of eight meetings have now been held. A list of those councils that indicated their intention of attending a meeting has previously been sent to the hon. Member. A record of actual attendance at each meeting is not held.

Ministerial Meetings

Michael Gove: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will list the meetings that the Minister for communities and local government has had with local authority officials and representatives concerning local government restructuring in the last 12 months.

Phil Woolas: Ministers have attended three county dialogues to date, in Shropshire, Gloucestershire and East Sussex, held with officials, representatives, members and other local government stakeholders, as part of the wider debate on local governance.
	Ministers have held numerous meetings with local authority officials and representatives over the past 12 months at which a range of topics have been discussed, and may have included, on occasion, local government reorganisation.

Planning

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many (a) unsuccessful and (b) successful planning appeals have been made against (i) Stockport metropolitan borough council and (ii) Tameside metropolitan borough council in each year since 2000.

Yvette Cooper: The following tables show the number of planning appeals (a) unsuccessful (dismissed), (b) successful (allowed) and the total number of appeals decided relating to both authorities.
	
		Stockport metropolitan borough council
		
			  Decided (a) Dismissed/ unsuccessful (b) Allowed/ successful 
		
		
			 2000 39 23 16 
			 2001 49 30 19 
			 2002 51 31 20 
			 2003 86 50 36 
			 2004 61 36 25 
			 2005 68 53 15 
		
	
	
		Tameside metropolitan borough council
		
			  Decided (a) Dismissed/ unsuccessful (b) Allowed/ successful 
		
		
			 2000 17 9 8 
			 2001 27 14 13 
			 2002 31 20 11 
			 2003 43 22 21 
			 2004 23 9 14 
			 2005 39 22 17

Planning

John Bercow: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what account is taken of existing residents' right to privacy in assessing planning applications for new developments.

Yvette Cooper: The degree of potential overlooking of existing homes from proposed development can be a material consideration when a planning application is being assessed. It is for the local planning authority to decide, on a case by case basis, whether to grant or refuse planning permission, and whether neighbour privacy could be protected by conditions imposed on any permission granted.

Planning

John Penrose: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister 
	(1)  if he will change the terms of C2 planning consent so that drug rehabilitation centres and secure mental institutions are not included in the same class of developments as retirement and convalescent homes;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of the possible impact on (a) crime and (b) local health and social services of drug rehabilitation centres and secure mental institutions which require C2 planning consent.

Yvette Cooper: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has recently consulted on applying the planning acts to the Crown and these proposals included creating a new Class C2A secure residential institutions for uses such as a prison, secure hospitals and military barracks (for more information see http://www.odpm.gov.uk/index.asp?id=l164257).
	The ODPM has made no assessment of the possible impact on crime and local health and social services of drug rehabilitation centres and secure mental institutions.

Section 215 Notices

David Lidington: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many notices under section 215 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 have been (a) approved and (b) served in each year since that section came into force; and if he will make a statement.

Yvette Cooper: Section 215 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 provides a local planning authority (LPA) with the power, in certain circumstances, to take steps requiring land to be cleaned up when its condition adversely affects the amenity of the area. The use of Section 215 by LPAs is discretionary and it is up to the LPA to decide whether a notice under these provisions would be appropriate in a particular case, taking account of the local circumstances. Therefore, the information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Small Firms

Mark Prisk: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what definition the Department uses of a small firm.

Yvette Cooper: There is no single definition of a small firm and terms such as small firm and SME (Small and Medium sized Enterprise) are used interchangeably. Two of the most common definitions are those provided by the European Union and the Companies Act 1985.
	The European Commission definition specifies a maximum headcount, turnover, balance sheet and independence criteria to qualify as a small firm.
	The Companies Act 1985 states that a company is 'small' if it satisfies at least two of the following criteria: a turnover of not more than 5.6 million; a balance sheet total of not more than 2.8 million; and not more than 50 employees.
	Use of the European Commission definition is voluntary and the Companies Act 1985 definition determines the eligibility of small firms for certain accounting and auditing exemptions and is not applied universally.

Sustainable Building

Alan Simpson: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what proportion of his Department's building programme budget was allocated to (a) energy self-generation and (b) water recycling measures in the 200405 financial year.

Yvette Cooper: In 200405 the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister allocated none of its building programme budget to energy self-generation or water recycling measures. This position is reviewed on an annual basis.
	The Framework for Sustainable Development on the Government estates sets an energy target (E3) that 10 per cent. electricity should be obtained from renewable sources and suggests this can be through the purchase of renewable electricity or self-generation of renewable electricity. ODPM has Combined Heat and Power (CHP) sets in two of its London buildings, and in the current energy procurement round (200506) the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has obtained 100 per cent. renewable electricity for their three London HQ offices.
	Since 200304 the total proportion of renewable electricity used by the Office of the Deputy PM in its buildings in (a) the Office and (b) its Agencies each year is as follows:
	
		Percentage
		
			  Office Agencies 
		
		
			 200304 98 29 
			 200405 98 46 
		
	
	The data for the Office covers Ashdown House, Eland House and Hempstead House.
	Agencies include Planning Inspectorate, the Fire Service College and the QEII Conference Centre.
	In respect of the water target (C2); ODPM had a water audit carried out in 2005 at one London HQ building (Ashdown House). A number of recommendations were made for directly reducing water use which are being followed up. There were limited possibilities identified for water recycling initiatives as it was considered that retrofitting rainwater harvesting equipment was not an economically viable proposition.
	This answer does not include the buildings occupied by Government Offices, who carry out functions on behalf of 10 Government Departments.

Thames Basin Heaths

Philip Hammond: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister 
	(1)  when his Department first made an assessment of the implications of the implementation of the Thames Basin Heaths Special Protection Area for Government housing plans in the South East;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of the likely impact on the distribution of housing allocations between counties within the South East region of the introduction of the Thames Basin Heaths Special Protection Area.

Yvette Cooper: Office of the Deputy Prime Minister officials have been working closely with Defra, English Nature, the South East England regional assembly, and local planning authorities over the last two years to develop a strategic approach to housing delivery around the Thames Basin Heaths Special Protection Area (SPA). Our aim is to ensure that we can deliver much needed housing while at the same time providing the necessary protection to the SPA. Discussions are continuing on a draft delivery plan that aims to provide a strategic framework for mitigation against the impacts that new housing development could have on the SPA.
	The likely impact of the Thames Basin Heath SPA on the distribution of housing allocations between counties within the South East is a matter for consideration in the context of the South East plan. Work currently being undertaken will inform the examination in public of that plan which is due to begin in November 2006.